Congratulations to CFSBK super-couple Dave Fung and Aileen Hanna on their recent engagement. 
Dave proposed this 4th of July while hiking with friends at Lake Mohonk Mountain House.  The happy couple has been together since 2008, Dave started with CFSBK in 2008 and Aileen finally joined in 2012. 

• Happy Birthday Steph P., Mike M. and Chris P. (from yesterday)

New Front Desk Staff and Hours!

CFSBK would like to welcome aboard Tim Jonston, Lindsay Silva and Matt Kattz to our Front Desk staff! Look for these three along with Lisa Fernandez (LF DOOM) and Whitney Hubbard (DubHub) working the expanded desk hours:

Monday through Thursday
5:45-9:15am *new
4:15-9:45pm

Saturday
7:45-2:15pm

Sunday
8:45-2:30pm

The Front Desk staff is here to help you! The FD answers membership and gym questions, check people in, keep the front area and bathrooms clean and hold the fort down. For those of you who have been with us longer than 6 months, what do you think of the relatively new presense of a staffed Front Desk?

Temporary Tattoo Party

Our own Bekka Palmer wants everyone to know about her company’s 2 year anniversary party this week:

Tattly is turning 2 next week! We want to celebrate with you at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn. On Thursday, July 11 bring your kids between 2 pm and 6 pm to 51 Bergen St for Tattlys, snacks, Looney Louie the clown, and tons of fun.

This party is open to the public, so bring your kids and their friends for a great time!

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Check out this great animation explaining everything you need to know about The Tour de France
On the other side of the sports spectrum… bubble football

Fitness: 3×5 across
Bar speed should be slowing down, but all 15 work reps should still be hit today.

Performance: 5/3/1 “1 week“
75%x5, 85%x5, 95%x1+

Post loads to comments.
e3/6
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4 Rounds, Not For Time of:
8 1-Arm Dumbbell Push Presses
8 1-Arm OH Reverse Lunge, alternate legs
4 Weighted Chest-to-Bar Chin-Ups

Perform 8 push Presses and then 8 alternating leg Reverse Lunges with the same arm locked out overhead. Let your non-dominant arm dictate the load. Go heavy but prioritize control and postitions.

Nicole Carroll on Ring Push-Up Variations

Beginner Yoga Workshop at CFSBK with Whitney Hubbard

Saturday, July 13

Women’s Wait

In this two-part series, Andréa Maria Cecil explores women in sports and what supporters and critics have to say about the contentious Title IX legislation. In Part 1, Cecil investigates the past, present and future of female athletes. Read it for free in the CrossFit Journal here
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For our female CrossFitters: What have been your experiences with access to athletics and attitudes associated with them through your life?

Fitness: 1×5 across
Get stoked to lift some heavy weight.

Performance: 5/3/1 “3 week“
70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x3+

Post loads to comments.
e2/6
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For Time:
50 Wall Ball Shots 20/14, 10’/9′
50 Kettlebell Swings
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders
Row 50 Calories 
550m Run 

Post time and Rx to comments.

No Pressure, Coach Jess!

Blast From The Past!

Some CFSBK OGs will remember the old typepad website. If you don’t remember the old yellow and blue site, check out what the daily blog used to look like! Thanks to Todd C for finding this!
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Universe Crueler, More Uncaring Place Than Previously Thought

Fitness: 3×5 Across

Performance: 5/3/1 3 week
70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x3+

Or Recovery Squat 70%x3x3

Post loads to comments.
e4/12
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3 Intervals, each for time of:
Run or Row 400m

Rest about a 2:1 ratio.

Post time to comments.
compare to 12.23.12

Danae in a great reciving position on her Dumbbell Split Cleans

• Don’t forget that next week we’ll be hosting Whitney Hubbard for a CFSBK beginner yoga workshop.  Great for people who want to do some recovery post classes or are just yoga-curious.
• Congrats to Bjorn B who won our Spartan Race raffle last week!

Hack It Up

Read “Hack It Up” in the CrossFit Journal which discusses the use of supportive gear in training and competition. They talk about everything from squat suits to belts to kinesio tape.  Do you use any supportive equipment? What have been your experiences with it?

Speaking of the CrossFit Journal, a certain Brooklyn professor is the cover for June’s Collected Articles page
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We’ve just ordered a fleet of “Bowflex Upper Cuts” so we can all get “tore up from the floor up”. You’re welcome.

Today you can come in and do either Thursday’s Snatch/Press programming or Saturday’s Squats and conditioning. Get Stoked!

Ellie Myers LOVES running in the pouring rain… constantly varied!!

General Informed Freestyling

A common theme from Mobility WOD is the idea of “informed freestyling”.  Basically, when you’re mobilizing, instead of remaining static and settling into a singular position, you’re actively moving around trying to loosen up the tissue and hunting for other restricted areas.  I’m a huge fan of total body informed freestyling in response to or as preventative maintenance for general stiffness.  One way to approach this is extensive DROMs, but my bias is towards ground based movement. Ideally this is accompanied by a foam roller, straps and a lacrosse ball.  More often than not, a mobility rx is reactive and targeted towards tissue you know is tight and preventing you from getting into positions you want to achieve.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that and probably the way you should spend most of your time stretching out. The problem however, is that sometimes it’s at the expense of a more generalized approach to soft tissue health. 
Lets start with the mindset that general stiffness is not normal and that you can do something about it.  To make an analogy, if you walked around hungry all day, a light would go off in your head to do something about it.  We don’t often listen to our bodies in the same way when our joints feel creaky and muscles feel stiff.  This should be a huge red flag that you need to spend a little more time doing generalized restorative movement.  Here are some quick benefits of a short total body movement session:

• Increased blood flow = Increased nutrient transport and hydration to all your tissues
• Excess metabolites are pushed into the lymph (think of it like “cleaning” an area of excess junk)
• Synovial fluid is pumped into your joint capsules, lubricating them
• With dedicated a breathing strategy and a modest pace, you can increase parasympathetic nervous system activity and decrease anxiety

Okay so how do we do it? Well there’s no one right way to do this and how you’re feeling that day should dictate your session but here are some general guidelines.

1. Set aside some time and space to move.  10-15 minutes should be enough to feel a lot better, I often put on a record and go at least until one side finishes. My preference is before bed since you can attack a whole day’s worth of stiffness and it’s a great way to unwind mentally. In terms of space, I love love LOVE my square36 mat.  Yoga mats provide insufficient area to move around on and I constantly have to reposition myself or the mat. (use the discount code cfbrooklyn36 to get $10 off a S36 mat!).

2. Start low and work high (or vise versa).  Start by doing some D-Dog calve marches, manually rolling your feet around, stretching out your toes, maybe using a LAX ball on your feet. Gradually work upstream spending more time in areas that feel tight.  Use stretches you remember from Group or Active Recovery class, make stuff up, work basic splits, twists, bends and be creative. You’ll undoubtedly find positions that feel great and areas that are tight.  Keep your breathing consistent and deep.

Here are some videos from our buddies at Body Tribe that might give you some more ideas:
Quick Mobility Play
Tav’s Brutal Recess
Staying Loose

3. Pepper in some Foam Rolling, LAX work or band stretches.  You might even start here and then get into the informed freestyling.  If you’re not sure what to do, take an Active Recovery class!

4. End with some deep breathing laying flat on your back, drink some water then go to bed!

Related Videos:
Gil Hedley: Fascia and stretching: The Fuzz Speech
Always Be Mobilizing
Informed Freestyling Always

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How often do you mobilize your tissues?