CFSBK is closed today as we host Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Level 2 Seminar this weekend. Learn more about Starting Strength here. CFSBK will reopen Monday morning (10/13).

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COACH JESS FOX!!

Saturday Alternative Programming

We are hosting Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar again and all normal in-house group classes are canceled. As an alternative, we’re offering off-location workouts. Below are the programming options available for today:

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here!

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Endurance Coach Mike O.’s Running Clinic
What: 2-Hour Running and Endurance Clinic
When: Saturday, Oct 11th from 9am – 11am
Where: Red Hook Track
Cost: $12
Sign up here! 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Saturday, October 11, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
(SOLD OUT) 

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Ever have more questions? Don’t hesitate to ask as our coaches are happy to help clarify anything related to programming. Chances are someone else might be thinking the same thing!

• Happy birthday, Becca W. and Mrav!
• CONGRATS TO DAVE AND AILEEN! THEY’RE GETTING HITCHED AT CITY HALL TODAY!
• Fight Gone Bad is only 8 days away! Send another fundraising email, get weird/creative/awesome!

We are hosting Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar again and the gym will be mostly closed tonight through Sunday night. As an alternative, we’re offering all sorts of fun activities…

Saturday Activities:

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here!

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Endurance Coach Mike O.’s Running Clinic
What: 2-Hour Running and Endurance Clinic
When: Saturday, Oct 11th from 9am – 11am
Where: Red Hook Track
Cost: $12
Sign up here! 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Saturday, October 11, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
TWO SPACES OPENED UP! Email Mare [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com if you’re interested! 

Sunday Activities: 

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here! 

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Roller Skating with CFSBK!
What: All-ages roller-skating, admission for the first 25 people that RSVP is compliments of CFSBK
When: Sunday, October 12, 2-4pm 
Where: the newly-opened Pier 2 Roller Rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park
RSVP to mare [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Sunday, October 12, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
Sign up here!

End the day with Stella Z.’s free pub quiz at 68 Jay St Bar, where Charlie tends bar:
Where: Sunday, October 12,7 PM,
Where: Smart in DUMBO, 68 Jay St Bar

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Fitness: Clean Deadlift to Knee + Knee Power Clean + Front Squat (or Full Clean)
Work up to a heavy weight on the complex and perform 3-5 reps there. 

Performance: Clean 5 x 1
Hit 5 singles between 80% and 90% of your recent 1RM. If you’re feeling good then work at the 90% end, if you’re feeling off then work at the 80% end. Your work reps must be no lighter than 80% and no heavier than 90%. 

Post loads to comments.
e2/6
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Every Minute on the Minute for 16 Minutes:
Even: 12 Wall Balls 20/14, 14/9
Odd: 20, 30, or 40 Double Unders

Post Rx and how it went to comments.

Bree with complete hip and knee extension at the top of her kettlebell swing. At this point in the swing, the kettlebell should feel “weightless,” as if it would float up if you let go of the handle. If this isn’t happening for you, ask a coach how to fix it!

News and Notes

• Happy birthday, Murat A.!
• Membership Policies: Please remember that your weekly class tally STARTS on Monday, so plan your schedule accordingly. So, if for instance you are on a 3x/week membership, you can’t come Monday/Wednesday/Friday and then attend Open Gym on Sunday night as part of the upcoming week. You would have to pay a drop-in fee for the additional class. Classes missed the previous week can be banked, but you cannot use up your weekly classes in advance of the designated week. Please review our Membership Policies for more information.

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Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5 pounds to last week.

Performance: 5/3/1 3 week
70% x 3
80% x 3
90% x 3+

Percentages are based off your TRAINING MAX (90% of a recent 1RM). Aim to hit 6 plus on the rep out, but save 2 reps in the tank. 

Post loads to comments.
e2/6
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Fitness
10 Rounds for Time:
3 Deadlifts 225/155
3 Dumbbell Hang Cleans + Push Presses (Rx 45%xBW) 

Performance
5 Rounds for Time:
5 Power Snatches 135/95
3 Muscle Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Michael A. getting up on the box. Fight Gone Bad is 10 days away! Are you ready?

News and Notes

• The gym will be closed this weekend after the noon class on Friday, reopening Monday morning. Check out all the alternative offerings we’re hosting in the Events column to the right!
• Congrats again to all our FGB fundraisers! As of 11:46pm last night, we were 39% closer to our goal. How fast can we get to 50%?? (Also, team Wodtoberfest is back in first and Erik B. is holding onto his lead!)

Own the Weight: Moving Beyond PR-Dominated Thought

By Noah Abbott

A world-record mile. A half court shot to win a million bucks. A hit single that rules the airwaves for a month or two. Society has become more and more obsessed with the rare and extraordinary, celebrating and venerating the “once-in-a-lifetime” moment over the slow and steady grind of dogged hard work and incremental progress. Seen through this lens, greatness becomes a montage of single-frame snapshots instead of long form cinema verite. 

CrossFitters are not immune to this type of thinking. We celebrate PR’ed lifts and WODs, then cling to the numbers as though they are immutable testaments to our continued performance. This partially attributable to CrossFit’s complicated balance between training and sport.Singular numbers matter during competition, as they may be the difference between a win and a loss. They matter psychologically, as the tangible and obvious payoff from long hours of toil and sacrifice. However, confusing PRs with overall fitness, or becoming too reliant or attached to them, is folly. Consider this statement:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
—Aristotle

Aristotle was the philosopher’s equivalent of a CrossFit athlete, writing authoritatively on physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, and government. His generalist approach is echoed in that statement: true excellence is the sum total of constantly and consistently repeated action, not a one-time outlier. 

Let this inform your training and factor it into how you plan lifts and cycles and approach workouts. While a big snatch PR is certainly cause for celebration (doubly so and especially during competition) it is not the most important or descriptive indicator of your lifting prowess or overall fitness. What can you snatch reliably, every time? What can you snatch when you’re tired, sore, or haven’t eaten enough? What can you snatch after a 400m run, or before jumping on the bar for a set of pull-ups? What number would you guarantee you can snatch with your life savings on the line?

This thinking applies to Benchmark WODs as well. I know I’m personally guilty of clinging to certain WOD PRs that I haven’t retested in over a year, even bragging (or worse,humblebragging) about them a bit. While this behavior is somewhat natural and human, it also kind of sucks. What good is my “Fran” time from a year ago, under perfect conditions, with a friend supplying motivation and helping me stick to a strategy? Shouldn’t I be as proud of a “Fran” done 30 seconds slower, alone, with no music? 

I submit that we should focus less on our PRs, and more on numbers we “own.” To operationally define “own,” I mean a weight, time, or score that we can hit 9 times out of 10. I know a CFSBK member who has recorded the exact same “Annie” time three times in a row (and it’s a good one!). He can confidently say that he owns his “Annie” time. Likewise, if you’ve squatted your PR multiple times over a fairly broad time spectrum, you own that weight. Let’s focus on what we consistently own, not what we grasp for a fleeting moment. This is especially important when we use 1RM numbers as the basis for planning a cycle of lifts—don’t use your squat 1RM from when you were a college linebacker if you’re currently a 45-year-old computer programmer. 

This type of thinking is psychologically helpful in two ways. First, it is directly relatable to the way we should be training—valuing steady, long-term, and (relatively) permanent progress over quickly achieved and discarded goals. Second, it allows us to simultaneously take it easy on ourselves (for not always PRing) AND understand that consistency in training is the goal. 

Recently I did a training cycle on my own that had one day each week labeled “SNATCH/CLEAN AND JERK 1RM.” While initially exciting, I quickly began to dread 1RM day, feeling that any day I didn’t PR was a disappointment and indicative that my training wasn’t working. I was explaining this feeling to a veteran Olympic lifter, who told me to take it easy on myself.  “As long as you can consistently hit 90% of your 1RM, you’re fine,” he said. I did the math, and realized my 90% number was eminently achievable. In fact, I owned it. I’d hit it a million times. The rest of the cycle went smoothly—I didn’t PR, and didn’t care, because I got better overall. (The Olympic lifter recently qualified for the American Open, so it seems like it’s working for him too.) 

In sum, try and recommit to enjoying not only the successes and bright moments during your training career, but the training itself. Savor the small sacrifices, the little breakthroughs, and the slow build towards mastery and consistency. PRs are the zenith of a pyramid, built on the wide and strong base of training data that is consistent (and trending upward) over time and circumstance. 

Go forth and own it.

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CFSBK Pilates Maven KH shows perfect extension at the top of her deadlift. Note the vertical line between her ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. Check out her Pilates class tonight at 7:30pm!

News and Notes 

• HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, NOAH!
• Fight Gone Bad Fundraising Update: CONGRATS! You guys solidly hit $15,000 yesterday, which means Brooklyn Community Foundation will begin matching any and all donations. Congrats to team Wall Ball Me, Maybe who pulled into first, and to Erik B. who continues to crush it on the individual side (though Peter M. is hot on his tail…). FGB IS 11 DAYS AWAY. Keep it up!
• Schedule Changes: Remember the GYM WILL BE CLOSED from Friday evening through Sunday evening this weekend. Below are a few more options to add to the roster of fun things you can do instead…

Coach Noah’s Kipping Pull-up Workshop on Saturday and Sunday

Coach Noah’s Kipping Pull-up Workshop is back with a vengeance and some added wrinkles! This weekend, he will be holding two BEGINNER kipping workshops:

Saturday (10/11) at 11 a.m.
Sunday (10/12) at 11 a.m.
Register here!

This is for folks who have yet to accomplish their first kipping pull-up or need significant work organizing the movement and linking them together. Buy-in for the class is 3 CHIN-UPS for both men and women. By the end of the hour, everyone will have gotten their chin over the bar, will likely have strung a few together, and will definitely have a plan for practice and perfection of their kip. 

Noah will also host two intermediate pull-up workshops: 

Saturday (10/11) at 12 p.m.
Sunday (10/12) at 12 p.m.
Register here! 

This is intended for folks with solid kipping pull-ups who want to refine their technique and learn advanced skills. The class will cover the gymnastics kip and smoothing/optimizing the kip swing, chest-t0-bar pull-ups, and butterfly pull-ups. Buy-in for the class is 10 UNBROKEN KIPPING PULL-UPS. 

Each class will cost $20 and run one hour. Meet in the annex. Email Noah [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com if you have questions about which class to select. If there is significant interest, another class may be added on the same day or the following week.

Endurance Coach Michael O.’s Running Clinic on Saturday

ALSO: The next cycle of CFSBK’s Endurance Program with Coach Mike begins on October 20. Check out the event page for more info. 

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