Deadlift / Handstand Push-Up Superset*
1A) Deadlift
Fitness
3 x 4
Heavier than last week.
Performance
70% x 5 x 3
1B) Handstand Push-Up
Fitness
3 x 5-10 Box Piked HSPUs
1-2 AbMats are ok. Knees are easier than toes. Sub 8-12 Seated Dumbbell Presses if you don’t have Boxed Pike HSPUs yet.
Performance
3 x 6-12 Strict HSPUs
1-3 AbMats are allowed as long as you’re getting some range of motion out of it. If you can do 3 sets of 12 easily, then add a deficit. DC blocks and bumpers work well for this.
*Superset means that you perform a set of exercise A (in this case the Bench Press) and then after a short rest, 30 seconds to a minute, you perform a set of exercise B (in this case the Barbell Bent-Over Row). You then rest a short period before returning to exercise A and continue in this fashion until all warm up and work sets are completed.
Post loads/work to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
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Every Minute on the Minute for 5 Rounds each of:
1) 15 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
2) 15 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 75/55
3) 15 Box Jumps 20″
4) Rest
3rd Scaling Options
WB: 10/8
SDHP: 35#
BJ: 16″ or Step Ups
A little Fight Gone Bad prep and primer today. The Sumo Deadlift High Pull only comes up around this time, so use the metcon to familiarize yourself with it. Box Jumps are Rx’s as a two foot take off. Step Ups are scaled. Aim to perform the reps unbroken for each round and see how far into the minute that takes you. If you don’t finish 15 reps within a minute, then move on anyway.
Post work to comments.
Athlete of the Month: Sasha Slocombe
By Chris Fox
The end of summer brings us a new AOM. Sasha started just over a year ago now, though it often seems as if she and her family have been here longer. She has trained consistently over that time, been coachable, and is always a friendly face to have in a group class. Read on to learn a bit about this yogini and mom of three!
Fox: Hi Sasha, thanks for coming in to speak with me, and congrats!
Sasha: Thank you! It’s such a surprise and an honor. I’m really excited.
Fox: Alright then, let’s get to it. When and why did you start Crossfit?
Sasha: Dustin and I started on July 28 of last year in your Foundations! I teach and practice yoga and had been going to the Y and exercising but found it hard to be consistent. Also, noise was frowned upon there, like even a “struggling to move a weight” noise! My brother was doing CrossFit in Venice, CA, and it sounded like something I wanted to try. I also knew a few people from the yoga community (like Coach Whitney) who were speaking positively about CrossFit, which helped since there was a negative slant on CrossFit in the press at the time about rhabdo killing people. The negative press actually intrigued me since just shortly before that someone had written an article basically stating that yoga was bad for you. Unilateral statements like that are often a sign of BS. All of that plus the fact that this could be something Dustin and I could do together were very appealing, so we did the Intro Class and then signed right up for Foundations.
Fox: I can’t believe it’s only a year that you’ve been here. It seems like your whole family jumped in right away. What about CFSBK made you want to stay and be consistent once Foundations was over?
Sasha: As a woman approaching middle age and a mom of 3, I was very into training in a way that would help me build and maintain muscle and bone mass, which weight training does. A really big factor was that the schedule here makes it easy to make it to class. I don’t have to worry when something pops up at 8am that my workout isn’t going to happen. I can just come later on in the day. Of course, the community of coaches and members are so welcoming and patient, so being a newbie who sort of only heard Latin when people were speaking of Kips and Snatches and ergs and such, I never felt like I wouldn’t be ok. I trusted that if we kept coming, it would get better. One really nice thing that CrossFit has done for my family is that we’ve developed a common language in it. The girls (Xela and Tulsi) have been going to CrossFit Teens since it started and at home, James (the youngest) will set us up and coach us to do Squats and such! It’s a nice thing for us to share.
Fox: That’s great stuff. I’d love to see James’s coaching in action! I know you’ve taught yoga for a while now. Were you always into physical culture?
Sasha: Well I’ve been teaching yoga since 2000 (Sasha was part of the very first Yoga Teacher Training at Dana Flynn’s Laughing Lotus!) and doing it for longer than that, but I was certainly not an active kid. I never played sports and was “the fat kid.” Not so fun fact: I was put into Weight Watchers at 8 years old. That identity started to shift for me in college when I began a yoga practice combined with running. Fun fact: at CFSBK I’m considered very flexible but not in the yoga world! I’m pretty happy with the balance that I have going now though. It’s one of the reasons I’m happy that the girls like coming to the gym. I want them to see a wide variety of people with a broad range of body types who all embody a healthy lifestyle. There are so many ways to become and be strong.
Fox: A fellow Former Fat Kid! I’m glad you’ve found balance and that your family is exposed to it as well. Where’d you grow up?
Sasha: I grew up in Northwest DC and then moved around a bit. I went to Oberlin in Ohio pretty much to not have to take any more math classes. From there I spent some time in Santa Fe, where the weather was great but it never really felt like home. Next was to Big Sur, to live and study at the Esalen Institute. It was so beautiful there and a very interesting time in my life. I spent some time in the Mission in San Francisco and then decided to get my Masters in Social Work at Smith. Finally I moved to NYC in 1998 and have been here since. I first lived here with a college roomie who had just broken up with her girlfriend. I met Dustin at an art opening that year and was smitten. I mean, here he was all Carhartt, long hair, and a motorcycle. Funny thing is that all of his friends asked him why he was hitting on the lesbian chick, the one who was living with her roommate from Smith. Luckily he was not phased, asking what I was doing the next day. I told him I was doing a yoga class and with an accompanying big gesture of his hands said he’d love to come along. We’ve been together ever since.
Fox: That’s a great story. Maybe we’ll get to see a picture of Dustin on his motorcycle with his long hair? Tell us what you do for fun outside of gym life?
Sasha: The gym and family activities take up a lot of time, but I find time to read any sort of book. I’m actually a stoop-book aficionado. I love that I can pick up a new book from someone’s stoop just about any time I want. And anytime we get to travel is great. I teach and practice yoga at Park Slope Yoga Center and also work as a labour doula. My work in both areas is immensely rewarding but also immensely draining since I always have to be “on” in full support of other people. CFSBK for me is my third place, where I can just be myself. I guess this is my main hobby.
Fox: What were some of the biggest challenges you had when you first started doing CrossFit?
Sasha: I already mentioned that it seemed like everyone was speaking Latin, and I never thought I would remember what anything was. That’s gotten a lot better. I relate a lot of this stuff to my yoga practice where after my 10,000th downward dog, it’s still a work in progress, but I sort of get it. CrossFit is a good mix of simple and complex movements, and I decided early on that I would just show up and do it, that I wouldn’t avoid anything. I did privates with Noah for a bit and that really helped to demystify a lot of it for me. I’m still trying to get my first Pull-Up though! If you would have told the 8 year old version of me sulking in gym class, hating every minute of it, that at age 49 I’d be in the gym 5 days a week working on getting a Pull-Up… And again, the community is amazing, which makes it easier to struggle and suffer with this stuff. It’s a little village. I remember one day recently, at the end of “Karen,” Chris looked over at me and said, “ I hate wall balls.” Chris is really strong and could probably be a pretty good powerlifter without doing 150 Wall Nalls, so I asked him why he didn’t take that route. He responded that getting through the hard stuff here transfers to the rest of his life. I think that part of CrossFit really resonates for people here.
Fox: This has been a really, really fun interview. Your insights are spot on. Last stock question: What should we look for in a future AOM?
Sasha: Someone who shows up and does the work in a way that’s right for them. And someone who asks the question, “How can I help my fellow athlete out?” Someone who goes out of their way to be inclusive and welcoming. Luckily there’s no shortage of CFSBKers who fit that profile!
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Sara Ahmed (-69kg) Clean and Jerks 143kg Hookgrip
Your Sculpted Pecs Are Worthless Vice
