“Diane”

For Time:
21-15-9 Deadlifts 225/155
Handstand Push-Ups

The Deadlift weight should be medium-heavy for you, and completed in 1-3 sets. Scale load as needed. For most athletes, however, this benchmark is more about the Handstand Push-Ups. To Rx this workout, you should be able to complete sets of 6-10 reps or more when fresh. If you can not complete at least 6 Handstand Push-Ups in a row, then scale volume or to heavy Dumbbell Push Presses instead. If doing the Dumbbell Push Presses, choose a challenging load that allows you complete sets of 6-10 reps or more.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Saturday, February 3rd: CFSBK Community Potluck

We’re excited to get everyone in house to break bacon and socialize together outside of classes. This event will simultaneously kick off the new year, support the Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge, and bring folks from all times and corners of the gym together. The fun starts at 7pm! This event is open to everyone and all are encouraged to come.

Your dish doesn’t have to be paleo, but please try and keep the ingredients of your dish to within the guidelines of the Challenge… animal and vegetable proteins, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, starches, legumes, whole grains, and dairy are all good to go. We’ll vote on the top 3 dishes, so bring your best recipe! You may, of course, opt to bring a healthy dessert that limits the use of sugars and refined grains.

• The gym will provide some alcohol, but feel free to bring whatever else you’d like. If you’re not drinking booze and want to bring a drink, seltzer is great, too!
• If your food needs to be kept warm, you’ll need to provide your own crockpot or other method for keeping it at serving temperature. We’ve got surge protectors and extension cords.
• We’ll provide notecards so you can label your dish and list its ingredients.
• When you leave please take everything you brought with you. Do not leave any pots, pans, Tupperware, utensils, etc. They will be discarded that night.
• There will be a raffle for one free personal training session with Captain Osorio himself!
• THERE WILL ALSO BE A BOUNCE HOUSE. Bring your kiddos!
• If you’d like to help out (and haven’t already been contacted) we’ll need some hands on deck putting everything away afterwards. If you stay until the end, we’d greatly appreciate some help cleaning up!
• We also need some volunteers to help set up before and clean up afterwards. To help set up, arrive by 6:30 PM! E-mail our Events Coordinator Danae M. at events [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to let her know you’re available.
• Let us know what you’re bringing by posting in the comments section of the event page!

We can’t wait to see you there!

News and Notes

• Starting tomorrow, CFSBK will be offering Jiu Jitsu Open Mat hours with Callie Brennan on Tuesdays from 4 to 6pm! Jiu Jitsu Open Mat (accessible with a specialty-class punchcard) is a supplemental and informal training session for current students and practitioners with at least a fundamental knowledge of jiu jitsu. This is an opportunity to drill technique and spar with other practitioners on the mat and clarify any questions you may have about your training.
• Also, don’t forget that we’re now offering a second Strong Fit class on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. This is a great opportunity to play with sandbags, the yoke, and other fun stuff!
• How did test week go? Tell us about your PRs and other triumphs in the commens!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Clean and Jerk | Row, Thrusters, Muscle-Ups
Exposure to Nature Promotes a More Positive Body Image Pacific Standard
How America’s Olympic Freestyle Ski Team Gets So Strong BarBend

Clean and Jerk

1-1-1-1-1

Begin at about 75% and work up to a heavy single for the day. Press-outs are missed lifts. If you’re feeling good, then go for a new 1RM. If you’re newer to the lift then work up to a heavy load on the complex of: Clean Deadlift + Hang Power Clean + Front Squat + Push Jerk.

Post loads to comments.

_____________________

Performance
For Time:
500m Row
30 Thrusters 95/65
10 Muscle-Ups

Fitness
For Time:
500m Row
30 Thrusters 95/65
20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
10 Burpees

The Thrusters should be light, and done in 1-3 sets.

Post time and Rx to comments.

• Schedule Change: Today’s 2pm Anti-Gravity class is cancelled.

Changes to Sunday’s CrossFit Preschool & Kids Classes

As you may have noticed, our Sunday kids classes have grown quite a bit over the past couple months! While we are thrilled about this growth, we realize that a few changes need to be made to ensure that your children receive the best experience possible.

Beginning today, January 21st, we will be moving the Preschool class to 9am and adding a 2nd Kids class at 10am. We will also be requiring parents to RSVP their child for each class. See the CrossFit Kids program page for details on the RSVP process.

Sunday Preschool/Kids schedule change (effective 1/21/18)

9am CrossFit Preschool (in annex) (CAPPED at 10)
10am CrossFit Kids (in 608) (CAPPED at 8)
11am CrossFit Kids (in 608) (CAPPED at 8)

TODAY: LFPB CHALLENGE INFO SESSION AND Q&A

The next Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture and Q&A is today at 12pm in the Annex. This week’s lecture will focus on the question, “How does recovery (or a lack therof) affect my performance and body composition?” We’ll cover stress (both the good and bad kind), cortisol, and how good nutrition and recovery practices can optimize performance and body composition. As always, an open Q&A will follow.

_____________________
Yesterday’s Results Board: Wodurday
Katrin Davidsdottir on the Next Five Years of CrossFit BarBend
3 Ways to Own Any Workout Athlete Daily

AMRAP 10 Minutes:
10-20-30-40-50
Alternating Dumbbell Power Snatches 50/35
Burpee Box Jump Overs 24/20

The Burpees are box-facing and Rx’d as a two-foot take off. Jump down or step down as desired.

Rest 5 minutes, then…

AMRAP 10 Minutes:
30 Double-Unders
15 Toes-to-Bars
30 Double-Unders
5 Bar Muscle-Ups

Scale the Dubs to 2x Singles or 1/2 attempts as needed. Scale the Toes-to-Bars to Hanging Leg or Knee Raises, and the Bar Muscle-Ups to Jumping Bar Muscle-Ups or 3x Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups as needed. Close to a BMU but don’t have one yet? Use today to practice!

Post rounds, reps, and Rx for each workout to comments.

Photo by Thomas H.

Tomorrow: LFPB Challenge Info Session and Q&A, “Recovery, Performance, and Body Composition”

The next Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture and Q&A is tomrrow at 12pm in the Annex. This week’s lecture will focus on the question, “How does recovery (or a lack therof) affect my performance and body composition?” We’ll cover stress (both the good and bad kind), cortisol, and how good nutrition and recovery practices can optimize performance and body composition. As always, an open Q&A will follow.

_____________________
Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Masters Athlete and the Mudslide Miracle CrossFit Journal
How Our Bones Might Keep Our Weight in Check NY Times

Through the magic of computers, Alex B. takes Coach Whit on a wild ride through time, space, and the panda exhibit. We’re not sure exactly what this is, but we love the hell out of it and so will you!

This Week at CFSBK in Review

Lots of important stuff happened this week. Recap time!

1. The next Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture and Q&A is this Sunday, January 21st at 12pm in the Annex. This week’s lecture will focus on the question, “How does recovery (or a lack thereof) affect my performance and body composition?” See the event page for additional details.

2. Save the date: Our Community Potluck goes down on Saturday, February 3rd! We’re excited to get everyone in house to break bacon and socialize together outside of classes. This event will simultaneously kick off the new year, support the Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge, and bring folks from all times and corners of the gym together.

3. CFSBKers turned in some truly impressive competition results over the weekend. Coach KHarpz brilliantly represented CFSBK at Wodapalooza in Miami. When all was said and done, she placed 15th on the Intermediate Women leaderboard. And longtime Starting Strengther Dan Crapanzano won both the Masters 2 group and Best Overall Masters lifter at the USSF National Championships in Oakland. Congrats, guys! You make us proud!

4. Registration for the 2018 CrossFit Open is now underway. We want you to sign up! But why should you? On Monday, we laid out some reasons why you should compete.

5. Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics. In our latest Ask a Coach video, we provide some tips on a classic CrossFit movement: the Kettlebell Swing!

6. Starting this coming week, we’ll be adding Jiu Jitsu Open Mat hours on Tuesdays from 4 to 6pm. This is a supplemental and informal training session for current students and practitioners with at least a fundamental knowledge of jiu jitsu. Details are in Tuesday’s post!

7. Kayleigh R.’s school is hosting its annual College and Career Day on Thursday, February 1, and they are looking for volunteers to come speak to groups of students about their job and career path. Interested? Email krose [at] sunsetparkhighschool.org for more info.

8. Better Know a Member returned this week with a profile of Jaime C.! You can look forward to more profiles of our wonderful, kind, interesting members in the coming weeks!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Snatch | Deadlift, Push-Ups
How to Fight the Winter Blues Effectively Nestmaven
Everything You Know About Cheese Is a Lie The Outline

Touch-and-Go Power Snatch

3-3-3-3-3

20 minutes to warm up and build up to a heavy triple. If you’re newer to the lift, then work up to a medium-heavy load on the complex of: 3 Snatch Deadlifts + Mid-Hang Power Snatches. No press outs, no starfishes.

Post loads to comments.

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For Time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Bodyweight Deadlifts
Push-Ups

The Deadlift should be on the light side of medium for you and unbroken on the fast end.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Jaime representing the Gowanus Mud Carp at Fight Gone Bad 2017 | Photo by Thomas H. 

Better Know a Member: Jaime Cheng

New year, new round of Better Know a Member! In this series, we profile members from across the ever-growing CFSBK community. If you don’t know her yet, consider this your digital introduction to Jaime C.! Say hi next time…

Name (and any nicknames):

Jaime Cheng. Growing up in Texas, friends would pronounce it “hi-may,” a common Spanish name translating to “James.” People also call me James, which I’m also fine with.

Where were you born and where did you grow up?

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas. But I also consider Austin “home.”

How long have you been CrossFitting, and how did you arrive at CFSBK?

I started in November 2015. Up until a few years ago, I was pretty overweight and lost about 40 lbs with hours of torture on the elliptical and an unhealthy relationship with food. I knew that lifestyle wasn’t sustainable for me, so I was in search for something different. When I worked in Portland, Oregon for a summer, my co-worker’s girlfriend opened up a CrossFit-like gym called POINT, which focuses on functional fitness. I held a barbell for the first time, did agility and plyometric training through HIIT-style workouts, and admired from afar the pros who could do a rope climb. I remember there was a bell and a flag at the top of the rope, and it was a dream to be able to ring it one day! Compared to my strict elliptical-on-the-hardest-setting-for-an-hour workouts I did for a couple of years, I had never had so much FUN working out before. So when I moved to NYC, and then Park Slope, I did a quick Google and Yelp search for CrossFit gyms in the area and after the intro class, never looked back.

What are you recommending right now?

The Mother-in-Law sandwich at Court Street Grocers: Short rib, kimchi, roast broccoli, mayo on garlic bread. Or any sandwich at Court Street, for that matter. I’ve had about half the menu. If you’re vegetarian, try the Broccoli Reuben!

What are you up to when you’re not at 597 Degraw Street?

Outside of the gym, I’m really into bouldering. You can often find me at Brooklyn Boulders just a few doors down, or whatever gyms my pals are climbing at on the weekend. I also love outdoor bouldering at The Gunks (near New Paltz) or right in Central Park when it’s nice out!

Since it’s January in New York and I’m allergic to the cold (really!), I’ve been happily spending a lot of time at home. I’ve been baking a lot of bread, testing out macro-friendly recipes, painting postcards and writing letters to my friends, and doing a lot more reading.

Other than that, I work in SoHo/Tribeca as an analyst at New York magazine. It’s the best job I’ve ever had! I work on every vertical (Vulture, Daily Intelligencer, Grub Street, The Cut, Strategist, etc.), and this year in media has been…well, a big one for traffic analysis, I’ll say that. Never a dull moment!

You have friends or family coming to visit from out of town. What do you take them to do in NYC?

A lot of my friends from home are mostly just curious to see how we live normal lives here in NYC! So if they’re staying with us in Gowanus, I like showing them a few of the many gems we have right in this neighborhood. Top of the list are Court Street Grocers (that sandwich list!!), Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Ample Hills, Folksbier/Strongrope/Threes/Other Half Brewing, Books Are Magic, and Black Gold. Then I tell them to grab some Momofuku cookies for the plane ride home.

What are your favorite and least favorite lifts?

Favorite would be Back Squat or Cleans. I can’t say there’s really a “least” favorite lift anymore. I’ve grown to look forward to them all in one way or another. But previously, as a beginner, it was Snatches.

Any advice for new CFSBKers?

Try classes outside of CrossFit (they’re included in your membership)! It took me two years to even think about trying a new class. Now I start my Saturday mornings with Short Circuit, and weekends just aren’t the same without it. It’s social, energetic, encouraging and I always leave feeling so accomplished and sweaty. It was only two weeks ago that I first tried Yoga and Active Recovery. Both of these classes made me realize how important it is to take the time to stretch out, and how terrible of a job I was doing on my own! Strong Fit is also AMAZING and makes me feel like a complete badass! Through these “extra” classes, I’ve made so many new friends, learned so much about my own body and constantly get to learn new movements. I really wish I hadn’t waited as long to try them out!

Back Squat

10-5-1-1-1-10

The first 10-rep set and the 5-rep set should be sub-maximal efforts. Work up to a heavy single in the middle and go for it on the last 10 rep set. Use spotters, and don’t bail the bar on them! If you’re feeling good then go for a new 1RM today. If not, then aim for 90% and leave it there.

Post loads to comments.

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Partner 3K Row

Work with a partner and switch off every 300 meters.

Post time and partner to comments.

More excellence from this past weekend: CFSBKer and Starting Strengther Dan Crapanzano won both the Masters 2 group and Best Overall Masters lifter at the USSF National Championships in Oakland. Dan Squatted 520 lbs, Pressed 218 lbs, and Deadlifted 610 lbs (a PR!) for a total of 1,347 lbs. Huge congrats, Dan! Let’s show him some love in the comments… | Photo by Tom Campitelli

Upcoming Changes to Sunday’s CrossFit Preschool & Kids Classes

As you may have noticed, our Sunday kids classes have grown quite a bit over the past couple months! While we are thrilled about this growth, we realize that a few changes need to be made to ensure that your children receive the best experience possible.

Therefore beginning this Sunday, January 21st, we will be moving the Preschool class to 9am and adding a 2nd Kids class at 10am. We will also be requiring parents to RSVP their child for each class. Full details are outlined below with instructions on how to reserve the class.

Sunday Preschool/Kids schedule change (effective 1/21/18)

9am CrossFit Preschool (in annex) (CAPPED at 10)
10am CrossFit Kids (in 608) (CAPPED at 8)
11am CrossFit Kids (in 608) (CAPPED at 8)

Sunday’s Preschool and Kids Class Reservation Process (effective 1/21/18)

Parents must have a current membership for their child that includes an enrollment in the class. When the parent logs into the member connect site, they will be able to click on the calendar and see a list of all the classes they are eligible to take. From there they can add or cancel a reservation by clicking into a specific class. RSVPs for these classes can be made 1 week in advance. If the number of reservations for a specific day and time has been reached, the parent must choose another class or add themselves to the waitlist. Each class has a waitlist of 5. Email confirmations will be sent for confirmed RSVPs, class reminders, and waitlist openings, so please make sure we have a current email address on file.

If the parent fails to cancel their reservation before the cancellation limit, 1 class will be automatically deducted from their membership’s attendance limit. So if a person has a 10 class card they fail to cancel their reservation, this automatically deducts 1 class off their 10 class card, leaving only 9 classes. Classes must be cancelled at least 2 hours prior to class start time.

Parents will have a 2 week grace period during which anyone who hasn’t RSVP’d can still attend/participate in class. However, we will begin enforcing the RSVP policy starting in February.

Please note that these changes do not affect our Preteens or Teens classes.

News and Notes

• The next Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture and Q&A is this Sunday, January 21st at 12pm in the Annex. This week’s lecture will focus on the question, “How does recovery (or a lack thereof) affect my performance and body composition?” We’ll cover stress (both the good and bad kind), cortisol, and how good nutrition and recovery practices can optimize performance and body composition. As always, an open Q&A will follow.
• Missing something? Maybe shoes, wrist wraps, or approximately 600 water bottles? Check out our latest lost and found dump, and be sure to claim your stuff before we donate it to CHIPS in a couple of weeks!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Emma McQuaid: Back on Track CrossFit Journal (video)
This Australian Art Museum Is Filled with Giant Skulls Atlas Obscura

Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics! In this new Ask a Coach video, we provide some tips on a classic CrossFit movement: the Kettlebell Swing! 

Ask a Coach

Do  you like these little instructional videos we’ve been doing? We’d like to do more stuff like that and need your help. So, from time to time, we’ll be asking you for questions that we can address in short videos. Today is one of those times! Leave a CrossFit-related question that we can address in a short video in today’s comments. One of our illustrious coaches may respond in a future video!

Tuesdays, 4 to 6pm: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Open Mat

Jiu Jitsu Open Mat is a supplemental and informal training session for current students and practitioners with at least a fundamental knowledge of jiu jitsu. This is an opportunity to drill technique and spar with other practitioners on the mat and clarify any questions you may have about your training.

Come and go within the timeframe as you please as there will be no lesson taught. This is not a formal class structure, and does not replace formal classes. Callie will be supervising each open mat and will be available to answer questions and offer suggestions on how and what to practice. If you have a gi/kimono, this is a great chance to get some gi training in. No gi apparel is also welcome.

Open Mat will take place from 4 to 6pm on Tuesdays (starting January 23rd) and is accessible with a specialty class punch card!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Press / Deadlift | Burpees / Pull-Ups
Open Registration is Live CrossFit
What America’s First Cookbook Says About Our Country and Its Cuisine Smithsonian

Press

1-1-1

Deadlift

1-1-1

Warm up and spend about 10-15 minutes on each lift, working up to a heavy single for both. If you’re feeling good, then plan to attempt a new 1RM. If not, aim to get to around 90% and leave it there.

Post loads to comments.

_____________________

For Time:
21-15-9
Pull Ups
Burpees

Get ready to get uncomfortable today. This should hurt a bit. It’s sort of a play on bodyweight “Fran.” Scale as needed to allow for a fast effort. Scale volume on both movements and/or to Jumping Pull-Ups as needed.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Coach KHarpz brilliantly represented CFSBK at Wodapalooza in Miami. When all was said and done, she placed 15th on the Intermediate Women leaderboard. We’re so proud of you, Katie! | Photo by Charlie N. 

Register for the 2018 CrossFit Open

Registration for the 2018 CrossFit Open is now underway. We want you to sign up! But why should you? First, the Open includes both Rx’d and Scaled divisions, so don’t fret if you don’t have Muscle-Ups or Handstand Walks jyst yet. Second, registering for the Open is good for the whole CFSBK community. As befits our guiding principle of inclusiveness, we usually have a big team, and we’d love to have an even bigger team this year. Even if you do only one rep for one of the WODs, it won’t bring the team down. The third reason is a little more complicated. What if—like your CFSBK blog Editor—you’re not naturally competitive because you were always large for your age and thus a big, slow target in dodgeball? To answer this last question (or some version of it), we’re reposting Coach Fox’s blog classic “Why Compete?” Enjoy!

Why Compete?

By Chris Fox

Originally posted on 12.1.2012

As a youth I was not very involved in competitive sports, so I can’t speak to that angle on why competition is a healthy aspect of training as an adult. Sure, I’ve played some pick up football, basketball, rugby, baseball, etc… but the consequences were only week to week, never having long lasting meaning to me. As an adult I have found new meaning in what training and testing mean to me. I’ve trained with intention and set performance goals for more than a decade and found CrossFit within the past 6 years. CrossFit was the first time that I had ever really tested my performance in a competition setting. The beauty of Crossfit, and the related fitness sports that go along with it like powerlifting, olympic lifting, strongman/women, adventure races, etc… is that while you are ‘competing’ with the people you’re sharing floor/track/trail/platform space with, you must also compare your performance to your own previous performances. Sometimes the goal may be to only finish an event. First time out? Just get through it with success. Other times it may be to best your previous years placement or possibly to achieve a top place in an event. In my case the goal is to get better as an athlete and to not slip backward as the competitive environment gets more and more, well, competitive.

I have no illusions of winning any powerlifting meets, Olympic meets, the CrossFit Games, or even any of the local throwdown style events. Does that mean that my participation is silly? Hell NO! I get to hang with some cool folks, push my limits, and measure where I lay not only in comparison to my fellow athletes but also in relation to my previous self. As a (very) soon to be 40 year old male, society would have me believe that my best days are behind me. I respond with a resounding “NOT” and strive year after year to be a bit better that the me from the year before. I enjoy the process, the goal setting, and the satisfaction of knowing that I prepared for an event as best as I could. Or, in learning what I might do differently  the next go around.

We test ourselves day in, day out at CFSBK. There are metrics to be recorded for sure, and you should be tracking them regularly. I encourage you all, however, to step outside of your comfort zone once in a while and and test your performance in those not so cozy places where the others are. You might find out that you hate it, but you might also find out that it inspires you to be better or at least have some outside of the box fun. At the very least you’ll have learned something about yourself.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Clean and Jerk | KB Swings, Air Squats, Sit-Ups
Tom Brady Is Drowning in His Own Pseudoscience FiveThirtyEight
The 10 Commandments of Deadlift Day BarBend

Clean and Jerk

1-1-1-1-1

Begin at about 75% and work up to a heavy single (not a 1RM) for the day. No press-outs. The goal is zero misses, but if you have a missed lift (either straight up or technical), take 5-10% off the bar for your next rep.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 8 of 8

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Tabata Mash-Up

8 Alternating Tabata Rounds Each of:
Russian Kettlebell Swings
Air Squats
AbMat Sit Ups

Perform 20 seconds of Russian Kettlebell Swings and 10 seconds of rest, followed by 20 seconds of Air Squats and 10 seconds of rest, then 20 seconds of AbMat Sit-Ups and 10 seconds of rest… repeat for a total of 8 rounds. Score combined total number of reps for all 3 movements.

Post work to comments.

Striking Workshop at CrossFit Suffolk

On Sunday, February 11th, CrossFit Suffolk will host a CrossFit Striking Workshop, a single-day immersive experience that teaches participants how to increase overall fitness, core strength, rotational speed and power by incorporating striking drills into CrossFit workouts. Strikes are some of the most functional movements because punching and kicking with true power, speed and accuracy require people to utilize their entire body. This is why fighters are some of the most well-conditioned and powerful athletes in the world.

With this in mind, the Striking Workshop is designed to teach participants to incorporate basic mixed-martial-arts, boxing and self-protection striking concepts into workouts. The course also teaches attendees to program these skills into workouts for greater variance. All this is done in a non-contact format that focuses on proper technique by using shadow boxing, focus mitts, kick shields and a heavy bag.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Wodurday
A Brief History of the Stick Nautilus
Lonely No Longer CrossFit Journal

For Time:

550m Run, then…

3 Rounds:
21 Deadlifts 135/95
15 Toes to Bars

The Deadlifts should be light and completed in 1-2 sets. If you can’t string together sets of 6-10 Toes-t0-Bars then scale to Hanging Leg or Knee Raises.

550m Run, then…

3 Rounds:
15 Hang Power Cleans 135/95
9 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

The Hang Power Cleans should be medium heavy and completed in 1-3 sets. If you can’t string together sets of 3-5 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups, then scale to Chin-over-Bar Pull-Ups or Jumping Pull-Ups.

550m Run, then…

3 Rounds:
9 Overhead Squats 135/95
6 Muscle-Ups

The Overhead Squats should be medium-heavy and completed in 1-2 sets If you can’t complete the Ring Muscle-Ups in 1-3 sets then scale to 12 Ring Dips or Burpees.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Headed into the 2nd day of Wodapalooza, Coach KHarpz is at 7th place on the Intermediate Women leaderboard. Show her some love in the comments! 

Farewell (sort of!) to Katie H.

As we mentioned yesterday, the blog is still catching up on community news. CFSBK’s resident anthropologist Katie Rose Hjetmanek recently completed her research at the gym and actually in Miami at Wodapalooza this weekend to observe the competition. Here’s a great message she sent us:

Hi CFSBK! Your resident anthropologist here. I hope you are thriving as 2017 gives way to 2018. I haven’t seen many of you the past couple of months. I have been traveling and nursing a knee injury. It has been a wonderful 18 months with you all. I have learned more than I ever thought I would, made wonderful friends, and experienced so much that the gym and its community have to offer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

I want to thank David Osorio for his openness to this project and to me as an anthropologist. He allowed me to run around and do my anthropology, trusting me along the way. My heart is full of gratitude for the opportunity and overwhelmed by his generosity. Thank you so much David for this incredible chance to learn more about CrossFit, CFSBK, and what it means to build something that is so important for so many

Thank you to coaches. I cannot begin to explain how much I learned from you as I practiced and observed classes and training. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, as both an anthropologist and a member. Not only do I understand the various parts of CrossFit better but I can embody them better as well – I’m so much stronger and able than I was a year ago. Thank you for extending your wisdom my way. Also, I’m sorry. I know it was annoying to have me hanging out, especially when I was around for hours and hours.

To the members, thank you so very, very much. So many of you have shared your experiences of CrossFit and CFSBK with me and I am forever indebted to you for your willingness, kindness, and openness. Your candor has helped me learn about and make sense of CrossFit and the way it manifests itself in your lives. This project really relied on your generosity and I’m astounded and impressed by the depth of it. Thank you for welcoming me as you do others, even though I asked more from you. You are all so very fortunate and brilliant to have made CFSBK the true treasure that it is!

I am not yet finished with the project as a whole. I am going to Wodapalooza in January (Go Katie Harper!!!) and will complete my fieldwork at other gyms by the end of June. I’m still hoping to do international fieldwork as well but that all depends on funding. Afterward I will write up. Therefore, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, you can always contact me at KHejtmanek [at] brooklyn.cuny.edu, maxesandprs [at] gmail.com, or via Instagram at @Maxesandprs.

Finally, I’m not really going anywhere. I will remain at Brooklyn College and in Brooklyn. And I hope to return to CFSBK as Katie (full stop) rather than Katie the observing anthropologist. CFSBK has come to mean a lot to me too, I’ve built very important relationships, and perhaps the blessing of doing fieldwork where you live is that you don’t have to leave, you just have to put down your notebook. So perhaps I will see you in 2018.

Again: thank you, thank you, thank you.

See you soon, Katie! If you’re reading this, tell us how it’s going in Miami!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Drive Better by Stopping Better in the Jerk Catalyst Athletics
Define Your Habits by Playing the Long Game Breaking Muscle