Fight Gone Rad: Allison, Kim, Cliff, Todd, Allan (+Rocket) and Jacinto!

• Team Photos are now up on Flickr!
• Last call on these abandoned glasses. They’ve been in the lost and found for a while and will be donated on Monday.

Meet the Farmer, Meat Share Raffle, and NEW Salami Club!

On Wednesday, November 6 (meat share pick up day) Jerry Peele of Herondale Farm, our meat CSA partner, will be in the gym from 5:30-8:30 PM. He loves getting feedback from CSA folk, and will also be able to sign up new members on the spot. Come say hello when you pick up your share, and ask Jerry about the additional items available for special order (hint: it’s time to start making stock!)

This visit, his son, Jack, will also be offering tastings of Jacuterie, his brand new salami, made (of course!) from Jerry’s grass-fed meat. The salami will be offered as a separate CSA share. Get the whole story, including pricing, straight from Jack himself.
Finally, MEAT RAFFLE! Ten bucks will buy you a chance to win a 15-lb meat share – a $160 value! Twelve pounds of Herondale cuts + three Jacuterie salami. The drawing will be held at 8 PM.

Questions? Email Michele at mignyc (at) gmail dot com.
See you then!

CLUE Film Screening and Q&A

Andrew M has been working on a CLUE Film Screening featuring a Q&A with cast member Michael McKean & director Jonathan Lynn. Come celebrate the 80s cult classic film Clue with this pre-Halloween screening, with a costume contest, prizes, refreshments & a mix of rockin Halloween-themed ’50s tunes courtesy of DJ Boogalow! Screening will be hosted by Tom “Meet the Lady” Blunt.
Doors at 7:30 pm
RSVP on FB
For tickets and more info
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5 ways to maximize your cognitive potential
Dogs shaking in Slow Motion

Fitness

5 Rounds, each for time of:
25 KB Swings
20 Lunges
15 Burpees

Rest 3 minutes between rounds

Performance

5 Rounds, each for time of:
30 Double Unders
10 Burpees
3/2 Muscle Ups

Rest 3 minutes between rounds

Post time from each round to comments.

Over the past five years I (Mary) have tried all kinds of work out regimes, everything from long sessions of cardio, to spinning, to yoga, and even half marathons. While I’ve seen marginal changes to my physique, I still hadn’t gotten the results I was after. Then last April in a final (vain) attempt to look my best for my wedding, I signed up for a foundations class. Since April, I have slowly watched my body trim down and develop muscles I never knew I was capable of having

More importantly, I was completely surprised by the awesome community. Thank you Crossfit South Brooklyn for encouraging and guiding me down a path towards a body revelation. And lastly, thank you for enfolding me (and now my husband, Dima who is also a regular) into your awesome community. We are such big fans of the box that we decided to have a couple of wedding photos taken there. See a few others on the Flickr Page

Support the Brooklyn Rugby Club

Running a rugby club in NYC presents a number of challenges but funding is always our biggest challenge.  One of our biggest fundraisers is our Men of Brooklyn calendar.  The calendar is meant to be a cheeky take on the famous Stade Francis calendar of the famous professional French team.  Cheeky because, while some of us do CrossFit, we aren’t built like Greek statues like they are.  It’s our first year doing the calendar and we’ve already sold over 100 pre-orders. If you’re interested in helping us out, please check out the link!
–Alex, Jason and Mario
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Friendly Platypus
Bathroom Prank
Dinosaur Prank

Fitness
15 minutes to work on the complex:
High Hang Power Clean + Mid Hang Power Clean + FSQ
Focus on bringing the bar through the hips

Performance
15 minutes to work up to a 1RM High Hang Clean
Start from a vertical torso with the shoulders behind the bar
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Front Squat

Fitness: 3×3 Across
Heavier than last weeks paused 5 rep sets

Performance: Work up to a Heavy 5
Heavier than last weeks paused 5 rep sets
Only go as heavy as you can maintain a neutral spine and a solid rack.

Post loads to comments.
CLN/FSQ e2/6
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50 Sit Ups
550m Run (1 lap)
50 Sit Ups

• Fight Gone Bad pictures are up! Big thanks to photogs Asta F, Bekka P and Dan R for putting these up. We’ve got almost 500 pictures worth of Fight Gone Goodness for all to see. Check them out on our Flickr page here.

Need a Photographer? Bekka P at your service!

I (Bekka) recently went out on my own as a freelance photographer. I work on a wide varieties of projects from documentary to event to product photography. I work with companies such as Creative Mornings, City of Industry Shop, I Spy DIY and even CrossFit South Brooklyn. I like happy people and honest projects. If you have something that fits email me at hello [at] bekkapalmer [dot] com. You can see my photography portfolio online at photography.bekkapalmer.com

Developing Your Handstand, Part 2

In a previous blog post, I wrote an article called “Developing Your Handstand” which discussed some basic points to consider for developing a hand balancing practice. If you haven’t read it already, or don’t remember it, I suggest reviewing it before getting into this article.

We’ve been seeing plenty of inversion work in our previous and current cycles so many of you are now comfortable kicking up to a wall or spotter and want to take it to the next level. From here there a few different skills you can progress to: unassisted static handstands, handstand walking and handstand push-ups. This article will focus on the former two. My personal opinion is that it’s easier and more productive to work on static and dynamic hand balancing in tandem as opposed to focusing on only one.  I often say that learning to be a good hand balancer mirrors the motor development children go through when first learning how to walk. Initially, you’ll need a little support from the wall or a spotter (cruising) and then it’s a bumpy trial and error journey where you begin to figure out where your body is in space and how to get yourself balanced.  This is a long and tedious process where you’ll spend more time on the floor than anything resembling a handstand. That’s all to be expected, persistence and smart practice are key here.  Below are some tips to get you started in the right direction.

Warm-Up on the wall: 2 Skills
The wall is a great place to work some transitional skills for hand balancing. First, experiment with slowly bringing one foot (foot A) off the wall and then gradually bringing your other foot (foot B) off so that you can get a sense of what it feels like to balance. Foot A should stay off the wall while foot B gently heel taps the wall as needed to keep you inverted. When both feet are off the wall, you’ll need to push your body up towards the ceiling and GRAB the floor with your entire hand. As you’ll come to experience, hand balancing requires the full use of your fingers and palm to adjust how your weight is being distributed.  The other key element here is finding a neutral body position. If you’re globally overextended or closed at the hip you won’t find any success with this drill.  If you’re not sure what position your body is in, have a coach or friend lend an eye and give you some feedback. Expect to be kicking back down and using the wall a lot.

The other drill you can work on at the wall is getting comfortable moving your hands. To balance on the open floor you’ll need the confidence, body awareness and strength to momentarily support yourself on one arm. You can begin to gain some of these elements by simply shuffling one hand at a time while your heels are still on the wall. You don’t need your entire hand to come off the floor initially, simply make tiny adjustments by sliding one hand an inch or two in any direction, alternating between hands. Some people will intuitively know how to take a step with their hands, others will need a little remedial work like this before getting to the open floor.
You can take this drill to the next level by kicking up to the wall about 6-12 inches further away than you’re used to and then walking to the wall. Watch this excellent video to see what I’m talking about.

The Open Floor: Have an exit strategy

Now that you’ve got some confidence moving your hands and have been playing with coming off the wall you can begin to attempt some open floor drills.  The key to safely working without a spotter on the open floor is having a clear, consistent and safe exit strategy.  The easiest way to exit a botched handstand is to take a step (with one hand) in the direction you’re falling and then reaching the same side leg towards the floor. This is essentially a poor man’s pirouette. Mastering this skill will allow you to practice handstands anywhere, on any surface without the fear of falling onto your torso or head. Falling into a backbend or rolling out of the handstand are NOT recommended unless you’ve had individual coaching on the skill or are a 14 year old girl.
The pirouette is your exit strategy when you’re falling over yourself, or off to the side. If you’re falling back in the direction your came up through, simply kick back down.  To gain confidence and familiarity with pirouettes, perform some “half-assed” handstands where you don’t actually get your feet all the way above your body. The idea is to kick up off to one side and pirouette into the direction you’re falling. All you’re doing is teaching your body to react to an imbalance and find the floor with your legs. As you get more comfortable with this you can start kick higher up into more mature handstands and pirouetting out of them.  Chances are you’ll bias one side a bit which is okay. Remember that you’ve only got a split second to move your hand. If your body is falling over and you wait a moment too long you might end up on your butt so don’t stay glued to the floor. Working on the open floor is in large part about moving your hands quickly and intuitively to restack your body. Often you’ll need to move a hand almost immediately after kicking up.  In the beginning, we recommend learning this skill on a gymnastics mat with a coach watching you, also, make sure the area is clear of other people.

Once you can consistently exit a handstand safely, you simply need to start doing handstands All The Time. Like on the wall, the same fundamentals apply. Keep your hollow body position, push the floor away with your shoulders and actively grab the floor with your hands.  At a certain point, you’ll trade off from needing coaching feedback to simply needing more experience. Inversions are uncomfortable and disorienting at first, like a child learning how to walk, you’ll need to practice on a regular basis until the experience becomes more familiar.  If you’re serious about handstands, I recommend kicking up from anywhere from a few attempts to several minutes of practice everyday. Usually there isn’t a day that goes by where I dont’ spend at least a few seconds upside down. Other days I’ll set a clock and dedicate 10 minutes or so to working on inversions. The important part is that it’s become a regular part of my physical vocabulary and something that has gone from strenuous to relatively intuitive.  Also, handstand practice is potent, so go with the mantra that less is more. Dont’ go to failure and learn how to listen to your body. You might only be able to do a few kick ups before your shoulders fatigue to the point that skill work becomes unproductive.

There are many methods and progressions for developing hand balancing skills. Play around with different approaches and see what seems to work best for you. Regardless of the methodology, consistent practice is the most important element to learning how to walk or stand on your hands.
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Learning the Handstand Walk with Dogtown CrossFit
Handstands with Dave Durante
Handstand walk progression part 1 with Carl Paoli

Joy and Mig at 13,222 ft

Happy Birthday, Aileen H!

CFSBK at C.R.A.S.H.-B.’s in 2014

The SBK Indoor Rowing Team is mounting its fifth CRASH-Bs campaign! CRASH-Bs is the premier indoor rowing championship, held in Boston each year in February; the 2014 date hasn’t been finalized, but it’s generally on the Sunday of Presidents Day weekend, which will be Feb. 16th.

Coach Nick will lead the team through a program based on his training regimen when he was competing at the olympic level. The participants will meet up for three group technique clinics (each of which will conclude with a workout), plus four team races at the gym. Nick will post a program for each week, and will provide support throughout the next few months for the team. Members will perform the majority workouts on their own. We will provide a plan on how to intergrate them into your CrossFit Group Classes.

The cost of the program is $200. Various payment installment options are available. The fee does not include the CRASH-Bs entry fee ($25), travel to Boston, or hotel.

If you’re interested, come to Nick’s kick-off meeting at 2:15 on Saturday, Oct. 26th. He’ll explain the program in detail and answer questions. (Oh, and at the end, you’ll race 2000m.) Send Nick an email at nick [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn [dot] com if you plan to show up or if you have any questions.

The Good Night Out: Brooklyn Restaurant Night to Benefit CHiPS

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Ukraine Street Gymnastics
Planned Obsolescence wikipedia
Planned Obsolescence

For Time:
10 HSPU
1 Power Cleans 135/95
9 HSPU
2 Power Cleans 135/95
8 HSPU
3 Power Cleans 135/95
7 HSPU
4 Power Cleans 135/95
6 HSPU
5 Power Cleans 135/95
5 HSPU
6 Power Cleans 135/95
4 HSPU
7 Power Cleans 135/95
3 HSPU
8 Power Cleans 135/95
2 HSPU
9 Power Cleans 135/95
1 HSPU
10 Power Cleans 135/95

Post time and Rx to comments.

Peter W gets some Pumpkinbell Swings in at the patch

Fight Gone Bad Scores

You can download Ryan J’s pdf score sheet with the individual and team scores from Fight Gone Bad. For comparison, he’s included both last year and this years scores. If you’d like the specific breakdown of your reps from your score card, please pick it up at the front desk.

2013 FGB Results here
2012 FGB Results here

Stella Z’s Concert

I sing with the Oratorio Society of New York, a 200-voice choir that performs at Carnegie Hall. Our next concert will be Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht. We have professional soloists and a full orchestra, so it’ll be a great show. I would love it if people came!

What: Oratorio Society of New York presents Mozart and Mendelssohn
When: Monday, November 4, 8:00 PM
Where: Carnegie Hall, 57th St at 7th Avenue

How much: Tickets go from $25 to $80 and can be purchased here
Or contact me directly (stellavision(AT)gmail.com) — I have a pair of rear-balcony seats available at $22.50 each (the subscriber rate) and would love to sell them to you.

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Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer’s-linked protein, study of mice finds
L-Sit Press to Handstand Progression CrossFit