Rajj with a good overhead position in the American swing

• Happy birthday, Mike W.!

Fitness App Recommendations 

By David Osorio

Below are three fitness related apps that I recommend. Check out the description and see if any of these make sense for you. If there are other fitness apps you like, please let us know about them in the comments.

myWOD
This has been the best workout tracker I’ve come across yet. Often trackers have very specific formatting that doesn’t allow you the flexibility to put in the different kinds of segments typically seen in a class. myWOD is easy to use, easy to search, and you can fill in all your lifts to see long-term progress without having to go through your book looking for previous exposures. I also like that you can customize all the lifts and make up your own benchmarks. There are also built-in timers, how-to videos for common movements, and other things you can tweak. It’s two bucks, but since I started using it I don’t think I’ll ever go back to paper and pen.  

Starting Strength Warmup
This is a great app for people who are not sure how to warm up their lifts on their own. Simply put in your work weight and the app automatically calculates your warm-up weights and reps for you. It also differentiates between Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts, Pressing, and Power Cleans, which often require different jumps even given the same work weight. If you’re often confused about how to warm up your lifts or want the machines to do the thinking for you I recommend it. The only downfall is that the lowest weight it can process is 45lbs, so if your warm-ups or work weights are at or below that, then it won’t really be useful. 

Coach’s Eye
We often use this app with our clients and use the slow motion and frame-by-frame features to show people how they’re moving. You can even draw little lines and markers on yourself to see your relative joint positions and bar path. This is a good app if you know what you’re doing already or want to have a coach look at your form from a video. Otherwise, you’re probably just as well with the new slo-mo camera standard on iPhones.

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The Origin of Life Big History Project

Rack Thruster: 1-1-1-1-1
Must be one motion from the bottom of the squat to overhead. No jerks.

Post loads to comments.
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Open Workout 12.4 and 13.3

AMRAP 12 minutes:
150 Wall Ball 20/10, 14/9
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle-ups 

Post rounds and Rx to comments.
Compare to 5.29.2014 and 3.23.2013  

It’s Captain Osorio’s Dirty 30! Happy birthday, David!

News and Notes

• Yesterday was also Inside the Affiliate’s 1st birthday! Head over there to see the latest post about collective learning and why David started ITA in the first place, and how to participate well in the CrossFit community.
• Congrats to Coach Whit who got her first muscle-up on Saturday—a year-and-a-half of hard work in the making, and she nailed it!

Zen and the Art of Crush Week

By David Osorio
Originally posted on 11.16.2011

In traditional meditative disciplines, you aim to cultivate mindfulness in a physically neutral setting. Often the practitioner sits in a comfortable position and tries to bring attention toward their breathing. In yoga, we see a more dynamic approach where rhythmic breathing becomes interwoven with a controlled flow through a series of postures. In both of these instances, the intention is for the pilot to become more tuned in to the “now.”

In CrossFit, we achieve something very similar through a very different approach. During an intimidating lift or difficult conditioning piece, you’re forced to deal with the moment at hand. The high discomfort level of what we do takes that moment and amplifies the physical inputs to the point where you can’t help but focus on what’s happening. You know this intuitively and it’s why you get nervous before a 500m erg test or 3 Rep Max back squat attempt. You know that once you start, you’ll be forced to deal with the “now” until it’s all over. Every second gets dragged out and every moment to rest or doubt yourself becomes amplified against what needs to get done.

Take this opportunity to set your intention for the approaching workouts. Whenever you find yourself deep in the agonizing “now” embrace it and stay on task. Don’t look around the room to see where everyone else is, don’t check the clock to see how much time has gone by, and don’t make excuses to try and avoid what you’re feeling. Just keep fighting the barbell up or chipping away at reps until you’ve completed the task. If you lose focus and get derailed, don’t let it mess with your head, just come back pushing harder. Remember, you’re here to get stronger, both physically AND mentally.

Enjoy Crush Week, which starts TODAY!

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Underneath the Hoodie: David Osorio by Margie Lempert
Starting CrossFit South Brooklyn CrossFit Journal, a preview

We did it a couple years ago, but let’s do it again: describe David in three words or less.

Fitness: Snatch or Power Snatch 1-1-1-1-1 
Work up to a 1RM snatch or power snatch in 5 attempts. Misses count as attempts. 

Performance: Snatch 1-1-1-1-1
Work up to a 1RM.

Post loads to comments.
e6/6
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AMRAP 10 Minutes:
15 Deadlifts 185/125
10 Box Jumps 24/20″
5 Strict Handstand Push Ups or Dumbbell Press (@45% body weight)

Post time and Rx to comments.

No pressure!

• Check out Active Recovery with Coach Fox at 11am.

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My Definition of Better Barbell Shrugged 
Haunted Radiolab

Fitness: 3 x 3 Linear Progression
Add 5 pounds to your last exposure, or if you’ve been through a few cycles of front squatting and have been grinding your reps, follow today’s Performance program and test a 1RM.

Performance: 1 – 1 – 1
Work up to a 1RM.

Post loads to comments.
e6/6
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Tabata Thrusters 45#
2 Minutes Rest
Tabata Pull Ups or Ring Rows
2 Minutes Rest
Tabata Burpees 

Score total number of reps for each movement (not each round) and grand total.
Post time and Rx to comments.

Brad during a recent muscle-up WOD

Bend, Stretch, Mobilize, and Swing on the Rings

• Yoga for Athletes with Coach Whitney at 10am.
• Active Recovery is back on at 11am and noon today with Coach David.
• If you signed up for Ken H.’s rings class, remember that you’re meeting today from 2-3:30pm!

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The Caffeine-Alcohol Effect The Atlantic 
The Best (and Worst) Positions for Sleeping Greatist

Today is a Rest Day! Take a cue from Coach Noah post-FGB and, well, consider napping on a sidewalk.

• Fitness magazine is looking for amazing transformation stories from women who have lost 80lbs or more. If that is you and you’re interested, please contact Karla.Walsh [at] meredith.com by 5pm today to be considered for their “I Did It!” section. 
• Congrats to Mel L., won the Herondale CSA meat share raffle! She takes home a 15-lb meat share, a $160 value! Congrats, Mel!
• Happy birthday, Neal P.!

Volunteer with Community Board 6

Last year, six members of the CFSBK community teamed with Community Board 6 (our local Community Board) to do an “Hour of Code” at PS/MS 282 (our local zoned school). It was a big success. Volunteers and schools are now being recruited to participate this year. If you would like to teach kids the basics of coding at one of our local schools, please take a moment and sign up to volunteer here. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Rob U at runderwood5 [at] gmail.com

Upcoming Local CrossFit Certification Courses 

CrossFit 718
11/8-11/9: CrossFit Powerlifting Trainer Course
12/20-12/21: CrossFit Kids Cert. Course

CrossFit Garden City
11/8-11/9: CrossFit Level 1 

CrossFit Morristown
12/20-12/21: CrossFit Level 1

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10 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Weightlifting Juggernaut
Lights Out: A Terrifying Horror Short The Atlantic