Workout of the Day

A. Every 2 minutes for 9 sets, complete (18 minutes):

Advanced
Snatch Waves (% of Snatch 1 RM)

1) 2 reps at 70%
2) 2 reps at 75%
3) 2 reps at 80%
4) 2 reps at 73%
5) 2 reps at 78%
6) 2 reps at 83%
7) 2 reps at 80%
8) 2 reps at 85%
9) 2 reps at 88%

Example (185# 1 RM)
2×130, 2×138, 2×148
2×135, 2×144, 2×153
2×148, 2×157, 2×162

Beginner
2 Snatches (every 2-3 sets, increase weight)

Notes
This week the Advanced rep scheme changes slightly and you will perform 2 snatches every 2 minutes at the same percentages as Week 4. Accumulating an additional rep at higher percentages should help build confidence and consistency as you attempt heavier weights.

The Beginner rep scheme is the same, but this week we encourage you to increase weights more frequently to work up to some heavier weights.

B. Back Squat
4×4, building

Notes
Build quickly to a tough set of 4 reps. You should be fairly warmed up from snatch work, so consider taking larger jumps across 4 total work sets, but not at the expense of speed or position.

CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK6/8)

From the archives: 2009, CFSBK was operating out of the Brooklyn Lyceum (now blink fitness) and hosted the first CrossFit Level 1 certification in New York state. Here Chuck Carswell and Adrian Bozman brief the group on “Fran”

Registration for the WET HOT AMERICAN THROWDOWN is live!

Wet Hot American Throwdown IV is back! This time it’s double the trouble!

Can you believe it? Our Throwdown is turning 4 years old! This year we will host a partner competition on Friday, September 13th. Grab a friend, any friend! All combinations of genders are welcome. It’s not about the leaderboard; it’s about the camaraderie!

Who: Everyone is welcome! We’ve got scaling options for all abilities
Where: 597 Degraw Street
When: Friday, September 13th, 5:00-8:00pm
Signing Up: Click here to register!

Not sure about competing? Don’t sweat it! This event is all about coming together, breaking a sweat, and cheering on our awesome gym mates. Spectators are highly encouraged, so even if you’re not competing, come out and join the fun!

After the event, we’re heading to a local watering hole for an epic after-party. Don’t miss out – we can’t wait to see you there!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Katie (Harper) Calanca, DPT (@kharper369)

Workout of the Day

STRENGTH

Turkish Get-Up
1-1-1-1-1

Notes
In 5 total sets, work up to a heavy single on each arm. Start at a medium heavy weight and perform one rep on each side. Try to add weight every set. You should be able to perform each weight on both arms EXCEPT for the last set, where you can try a weight you can probably only hit on your dominant side. You will always be a little asymmetrical, have some fun on that last set and go for it!

METCON

AMRAP 15:00:
5 Strict Knees to Elbows
15 Kettlebell Swings
20 Alternating Box Step Ups

Notes
Move at a steady pace on this workout. Commit yourself to solid mechanics and consistency across all of your rounds by not using a kip with your Knees to Elbows. Choose a KB weight that is challenging but allows you to complete most if not all of your sets unbroken. The step-ups may be bodyweight or loaded with DBs.

Knees to Elbows Scaling
A. 5 Strict Knees to Armpits or Chest
B. 5 Hollow Hanging Lat Push Downs + 5 Tuck Ups

CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK6/8)

Dan shifting his mindset before attempting a heavy squat

Great Turkish Get-Up primer

This is, in our opinion the best most accessable video on the TGU on youtube!

Workout of the Day

STRENGTH

Bench Press
Build to Heavy 5 reps

Notes
Compare to Week 4 as a reference for loading. In roughly 5 total sets, work up to a heavy 5 on the Bench Press. The final set should leave you with 0-1 reps in reserve.

METCON

For Time:
1000 m Row
50 Burpees to overhead target

Notes
For today’s workout, aim for a slightly faster row pace then your 2k. At this point in the cycle, you should have a good idea what you can hold and maintain for a 1k. If you are more experienced, try to shoot for negative splits every 250 m.

Negative splitting is when successive times for 250 meter splits are faster than preceding times, e.g. in a 1K piece, the first 250 meters are at a split time of 2:00, the next are at 1:59, the next are at 1:58 and the last 250 meters are at 1:57. The 1K is just an illustration; the same is true for any distance. This can help you avoid the “crash and burn” method of pacing where you go out too fast at the start and can’t maintain that pace for the entire distance.

CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK6/8)

Kat D putting on a Pistol clinic yesterday morning

Today’s Metcon

Here is how I (David) approached yesterday’s workout. It’s a simple couplet but a little planning can go a long way. Here’s what I focused on:

1. 1000m Row
I am not a strong rower and I tend to blow up if I push too hard, so I set the simple goal of rowing sub 2:00 splits the entire time. I hovered around 1:55-1:58 splits cruising at about 23 strokes per minute. This felt very sustainable but still challenging enough for me. I probably should have tried to drop my splits by a couple seconds at the 500m and 750m mark, but alas.

2. 50 Burpees
I may be in small company here, but I like burpees. I feel like I can just sort of do them forever. My focus points here were:
– start your first burpee the second you get to the station
– Keep a pace where you won’t have to stop
– Just get into a flow of doing the same thing, putting my hands in the same spot, breathing and moving at a steady tempo. Just “more of the same, more of the same, more of the same” is sort of what my internal monologue was.
– Push on those last 10 reps!

Even simple focus points can allow you to be more intentional about your efforts at the gym. Take a moment to plan your strategy and get after it today.

PS my time was 7:43

Workout of the Day

STRENGTH

A1. Weighted Chin Up: 5×2, as heavy as possible
A2. Single Leg Squat (Pistol): 4×5 each side

Notes
Superset the two movements, resting about 30 seconds after the chin ups and about 1 minute after the pistols.

On your chin ups, pull as high as possible on every rep (Think “peak pull”!). If you’re running into a wall on adding load for your chin up doubles, one option is to complete the set as two singles with a 10-30 second break between reps.

Chin Up Progression/Options
Adv: Chin Up, Accumulate 16-30 reps (bodyweight or negatives if needed)
Int: Chin Up Negatives, 6×3 (bodyweight or weighted)
Beg: Foot Assisted Chin Up, 5×5 @ 2121

Pistol Progression/Options
A. With Hand Assist: Grabbing the Toes
B. Box Pistol
C. Pistol with Toes on Calf/Ankle
D. Single Leg Squat to Bench/Box, with optional plate counterbalance

PARTNER METCON

A. 5 minute AMRAP:
Bike Calories
DB Hang Power Cleans

3 minute Rest

B. For time:
Complete the same number of reps on each movement you accumulated in the AMRAP with your partner.

Notes:
In this workout, both athletes are working the entire time. One will start on the bike, one on the dumbbells. Trade movements with your partner as desired, while keeping transitions as tight as possible. (For example, you might start with a 45 second effort and then switch movements, aiming for a 5-10 second transition). Start the AMRAP at a challenging, but sustainable pace and work hard for 5 minutes. Choose a DB weight that you can cycle for sets of 10 reps at a time.

The bike will count your reps for you (don’t reset it), so you will just need to keep counting up total reps on the DB hang power cleans as a team.

After the 3 minute rest, aim to push your effort and finish the same number of reps you accumulated as a team in part 1 as quickly as possible. Again, you may trade movements at any point you like.

Example:
Part A: Completed 63 bike calories and 98 hang power cleans in total.
Part B: For Time: 63 bike calories, 98 hang power cleans, as a team.

CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK6/8)

Watching the finals yesterday. 

4 Things I believe are necessary to running a  successful CrossFit gym

As we’ve mentioned on Inside the Affiliate before, coaching skill is only a small part of what it takes to run an affiliate, and there are countless other qualities that are required to excel in this business. For starters: the ability to manage people, make tough or sometimes unpopular decisions, listen to your instincts, and the humility to know that you won’t always be right. Here is some advice I’ve given to people who are interested in running their own gym:  

1. You must be good with people.
If you’re not comfortable working with a variety of personalities, this might not be the profession for you. As any seasoned coach or trainer knows, a huge part of this business requires the social fluency to deal with a vast spectrum of people on a daily basis. This skill becomes even more critical when running an affiliate, as your reactions and responses to different situations carry greater weight and begin to represent the ethos of the business itself. If people easily get under your skin, I recommend treading lightly—how you interact with members, coaches, or partners can easily turn a potential success into a frustrating mess.  

2. Focus on the experience over income.
Running a small business can be hard and unpredictable. One of the biggest lessons I learned from CrossFit founder Greg Glassman is that “excellence is obvious to everyone”, meaning that if you put in the effort to create a consistently positive experience people will stick around. Focus on the experience and the income will follow. I’ve never had a “business plan” for the gym, I don’t have projections that I run, I’ve never advertised, ran discounts and I don’t get lost in “KPIs”. Are people smiling? Are classes run on time? Are people getting fitter? Are we having fun? Those are the metrics I focus on and that have kept us open for 17 years.

3. Learn what’s most important when it comes to hiring great coaches.
When I first moved to New York City, I had the good fortune of being hired by an insightful coach who taught me that for the most part, any dedicated, intelligent person could learn the skills required to become an exceptional coach. Learning how to identify and triage movement faults, effective cueing, and the nuts and bolts of programming and kinesiology can be both taught and learned. Shitty personality traits, however, are much harder to modify in adults and often fall well beyond the scope of any affiliate owner who is looking to train or mold a coach.

So, hire based on personality first, then potential. Make sure that the people you hire have the people-person qualities we outlined in Number 1—namely, the maturity to be professional and work well with a variety of personalities. We are in the service industry, and the success and reputation of your gym depends on having a staff that honestly cares about the people they’re working with. Individuals who are condescending, impatient, and create drama in your gym are to be avoided at all costs, in my opinion. These people can corrode and undermine the culture you’ve created by placing their own interests and biases above the greater common goal of helping run a great affiliate.

Almost all of CFSBK’s coaches have been hired from within our community after they first demonstrated an interest in learning the “hard skills” of becoming a coach and second, all the “soft skills” of personality I mentioned above.

4. Don’t cut corners when it comes to the details, and be the person you’d want to hire.
In the early days of CFSBK, I did everything from the blog, to cleaning the floors and organizing the equipment on a daily basis. Know that there are going to be days when you start to lose sight of why this is important—but taking pride in all the little things helps you appreciate the entire spectrum of work that goes into running a tight ship.

One of the best ways to be an empathetic manager is to first become a dedicated employee in your own business. Especially in the future, when you’re not the one doing it all, you’ll be glad that you know what goes into executing each detail well. On the days when you’re tired and want to start cutting corners, remember that details matter and every little piece, even those that are less glamorous, is an important part of a much larger whole.

Workout of the Day

“Mythic Strength”

Deadlift

2 x 45 Seconds AMRAP (RPE 8-8.5)
Rest 2-3 min.

Notes
Ramp up tp approx same weight as last week. Aim for higher reps (10+). Full resets (No TnG).

Single Arm Press & Farmer Carry

Press DB for 6-8 reps. Rest 30 sec. Farmer carry same hand 40 ft. Rest 30 sec. Repeat other side, rest 90-2 min sec.4 rounds, building.

Notes
4 rounds building. Leave 1-2 RIR on the press.

Cashout

Lu Raise50 reps

Notes
Go light. Short breaks, count to 15, then continue.

CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK5/8)

CFSBK Coaching alumni Pat F judging the GOAT, Tia Claire Toomey

CrossFit Games Viewing *UPDATED*

Hey everyone, we’re modifying the CrossFit Games viewing/Open gym today to 4-6pm to just stream the final individual event. 1-6 was too long of a window! Sorry! Come on by, chill, eat, workout, watch. We’ve got free beer and non alcoholic drinks like water and seltzer.

You can see the competition details here.