“Angie”

For Time:
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
100 Squats

Post time and Rx to comments.

Strength Cyclers in their post-Total glory

News and Notes

• Coaches David, MeLo, Noah, and the Foxes are heading to California this week to watch the 2014 CrossFit Games. Catch all the Games’ action on ESPN starting Friday from 6-7pm PT, Saturday 5-7pm PT, and Sunday on ESPN2 from 5-6pm PT. 
• Serious congrats to Endurance Coach Michael O., who stole the record for fastest time around the Prospect Park loop this weekend, at 23:42. ALSO: he is looking for a couple more runners to compete in NYRR’s final Tuesday Night Speed Series at 7pm at Icahn Stadium. Email him for more details if you’re interested, michael.olzinski [at] gmail.com.
• Evan R. PR-ed his 10K time at 39:40! 

Want to Learn to Do a Standing Back Flip? 

Now is your chance. Join guest gymnastics coach Ken H. THIS SATURDAY as he takes you through various progressions leading up to doing standing back flips. If you participated in the previous back flip class, feel free to take this one to improve your skills.

Buy-in: Guys: Power clean 125% of your body weight; Gals: Power clean 100% of your body weight
Time: Saturday, July 26th, 2-3:30pm
Cost: $20 

The class is capped at 8 participants, so don’t think twice! Register Here!

Ken Haller’s Bio
Ken was a nationally competitive gymnast in Newton, MA and at the University of Michigan. After graduating, Ken coached for eight years at Capital Gymnastics in Northern Virginia where he coached regional and national champions. His students have gone on to be NCAA champions and members of Cirque du Soliel. In searching for an activity to replace gymnastics, Ken filled the void with rock climbing and yoga for the past ten years and recently found CrossFit to round out his training.

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!

Mighty Strength Cyclers: How did your Total go yesterday??

_________________
Love People, Not Pleasure New York Times
Price of the Platform Bryan Krahn
How Colors Smell The Atlantic
Emotions of CrossFit

Deadlift: 1-1-1-1-1
Attempt to set a new 1 Rep Max.

Post loads to comments.
_________________ 

Partner WOD
In teams of 2, alternate rounds to complete 3 rounds each of the triplet:
300m Row or 270m Run
20 Box Jump 24/20
10 Overhead Squat 135/95

Post time and Rx to comments.

Chris A. cleaning like a boss 

• Good luck to CFSBK’s Weightlifting Coach Frankie Murray who is competing in the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Salt Lake City today. Check out the live stream here. Coach Frankie will be lifting around 5pm EST.

Strength Total Today at 2pm

Fitness: Snatch
Work up to a heavy snatch for the day. If you a hard time with the first pull, then perform the snatch from the hang.

Performance: Snatch 
Work up to a heavy snatch for the day.
_________________ 

Back Squat 

Fitness: 3-3-3-3-3
Establish a 3 Rep Max. Start your first attempt at or near your last 3×5 weight.

Performance: 1RM Test
Warm up to 80% for a single then: 
90%x1 
95%x1 
100%x1 (this would in fact be a new 1RM) 
105%x1 
105% + if still moving 
Remember to use the same theoretical max you’ve been using all cycle. 

Post loads to comments.
e6/6

Come watch our fabulous Strength Cycle ladies with Coach Jeremy tomorrow!

Community Announcements

• Congrats to our beloved Cruise Director Mare L. on getting MARRIED last night! 
• Tomorrow is our favorite masseuse’s last day in Brooklyn. Inka H. is moving to Maine and we will miss her dearly!
• Congrats to Serene, who squatted 315# on Thursday and moved to first place on the women’s leaderboard. Check it out here!

Bend, Stretch, Mobilize, and Stand on Your Hands

• Yoga for Athletes with Coach Whitney at 10am.
• Active Recovery at 11am and 12pm with Coach David.
• If you signed up for Ken H.’s handstand class, remember that you’re meeting today from 2-3:30pm!

Strength Total Tomorrow at 2pm

 

Watch Kacy Catanzaro absolutely crush the “American Ninja Warrior” obstacle course

• Happy birthday, Tedra M.!

Warm-Up Strategies For Developing Kipping Pull-Ups

By David Osorio 
Originally posted on 11.4.2011 

Below is a plan to start incorporating regular kipping pull-up skill work into your warm-ups. Like any other skill, you’ll need regular practice to develop mastery of the movement. That being said, don’t go overboard with this—I wouldn’t be swinging on the bar more than four times per week. The progression below is broken into three steps based on your skill level. Don’t advance to the next step until you’ve mastered the previous one. This may take several weeks so be patient!

Level 1, The Kip Swing: Add 5-8 Kip Swings before each set of pull-ups during warm ups, or add 1-2 sets of kip swings when you finish warming up. Progress to Level 2 after you can consistently string these together with a nice “pop” on the back end.

Points of Performance

• Make sure you’ve got the right grip. If your palms feel like they’re being pinched you need to readjust.
• Always start from a static deadhang with a tight body and active shoulders. 
• The kip should feel fluid and springy. Try to ride the momentum you create.
• Before moving to Level 2, ask a coach to access your kip swing.

LEVEL 1 VIDEO DEMO

Level 2, The Dynamic Pull and Mature Finish: Now that you’ve mastered the kip swing and have found the weightless “pop” on the back end, try to reopen your hip and get over the bar. Make it your goal to use momentum, not pulling strength to finish the pull up. When you get over the bar, hold the top for a 2-count. This will help you establish a mature finish position. Lower yourself down and reset. 

Points of Performance

• Don’t slow down your kip swing before you attempt to get over. This is a common mistake. A bigger kip will make the pull-up easier.
• You’ll have to reset after each rep. Kip swing > Dynamic Pull-Up > Hold over the bar for a 2-count > lower down and start over.
• You haven’t completed this step until you can consistently get over the bar in one fluid motion. Any stalling, slowing down, or extra little kicks to get over constitute a work in progress on Level 2.
• Have a coach look at your progress before moving to Level 3.

LEVEL 2 DEMO VIDEO

Level 3, Stringing Them Together: Now that you can kip over the bar you need to work on linking them together. If you’ve been diligent about holding the top of the pull up, you’ll have plenty of time to work on pushing away back into your kip swing. Once you can link two together, incrementally add reps until you can link 10 together. Watch the video at the bottom of this article to see this in real time. 

Points of Performance

• You don’t need to lose the momentary pause at the top of the pull up. In fact, the ability to do this indicates that you’re all the way over the bar. Sometimes folks develop a kipping pull-up and need to reach with their chin to get just over the bar—but this is not a complete kipping pull-up. Try to get the bar to neck level.
• This step is all about timing and rhythm. If you lose your balance or develop a pendulum swing, stop and reset.
• Be patient! Developing your pull ups is going to take some time. The good news is that it’s MUCH harder to get from 0-2 kipping pull-ups than it is to get from 2-10, so once you find your rhythm it’s just a matter of consistent practice to pile on the reps.

LEVEL 3 DEMO VIDEO

Watch these videos (Kipping Pull-Ups Part 1 and Part 2) to see some of these progressions broken down. As always, ask a coach if you need any help with these steps!

_________________
Words Radiolab
Stalking the Shadow Universe New York Times
Brooks Falls: Brown Bear & Salmon Cam Explore
Greasy Food, Joint Pain, Being Obsessive Compulsive, Training Well, & Enjoying Life Catalyst Athletics

Fitness
At 0:00
30-20-10 reps for time:
Kettlebell Swings 72/53
Push Ups 

at 15:00
21-15-9 reps for time:
Dumbbell Thrusters
Pull Ups or Jumping Pull Ups 

Performance
At 0:00
9-6-3 reps for time:
Muscle Ups
Squat Clean Thrusters 155/105 

At 15:00
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Burpees
Pull Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Kayleigh is in Park City, Utah and after scaling a 10,000 ft. mountain, she realized, “I’m wearing my CFSBK shirt and I’m really high up—I should try a pistol.” Get it, girl! And come home to us soon!

Erik Kolb Update

Last week, we made the sad announcement that one of our members, Erik Kolb, died at the end of May. Many of you reached out and asked how you might be able to help, and Shawn S. did some research and discovered that Lafayette College (where Erik went to college) has a memorial scholarship set up in Erik’s name. Should you feel so inclined, there are three ways to donate: 

1) Go to their online donation page and put Erik’s name into the “in memory of” section of the form.
2) Send a check payable to Lafayette College with “in memory of Erik Britton Kolb” in the memo field to: Development Office, Lafayette College, Box 3000 Easton, PA 18042
3) Call the development office at 610.330.5034 and give them your credit card information and specific fund instructions over the phone. 

Lafayette will send the family notifications of any donations made. Thank you, Shawn!

Upcoming Competitions

Interested in putting your CrossFit training to the test? Consider signing up for one of the following competitions:

2014 Subway Series
Registration is still open for all four of the Subway Series events. The first one takes place on Sunday, August 3rd at CrossFit LIC.  More information can be found on the event page.  

Flex on the Beach—Long Beach
Teams of 4 athletes complete 3 WODs on the beach Saturday, 13 September 2014. Each team consists of 2 men and 2 women. Rx’d and Scaled divisions available. Additional details can be found here.

If you are interested in competing, please email Coach MeLo, at melissa [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com.

Run a 10K Time Trial Tomorrow Morning

Calling runners with advanced or elite development goals! CFSBK’s Endurance Coach Michael O. is pacing and recording a 10K for time with CFSBK marathon-athlete Evan R. this Friday at 6am in Prospect Park. This is a peak of 10K training to test sustainable speed and power before entering a NYC Marathon training program. If you have any big marathon goals (i.e., sub-40:00 10K time), consider joining these gentlemen tomorrow morning to set a great benchmark for your marathon journey.

When: 6am SHARP for warm-ups tomorrow, Friday the 18th
Where: Prospect Park Grand Army entrance

If interested, you must e-mail michael.olzinski [at] gmail.com to let him know you’re coming. 

_________________
Train Like a German Soccer Star New York Times
Ample Hills Gowanus, Brooklyn’s ‘Ice Cream Paradise’ Eater
Butt Wink Is Not About the Hamstrings Dean Somerset
How Coolness Defined the World Wide Web of the 1990s The Atlantic