Haley G sets up to pull 205
In case you havent already seen them, the full TTD results can be seen in this googledoc pdf. Scroll down past the long first page and see the breakdowns on pages 2 and 3. Thanks Ryan J!

Competition Weekend

Best of luck to Steph P who will be competing in the Philadelphia Winter Warmer this weekend and Alan L and Micheal F who will be doing a team competition called ALS Fire For Life. Go Team SBK!

Speaking of competitions, we’ve currently got 9 ladies signed up for Hail to the Queen on February 2nd. If you’re interested sign up asap and let us know. Email Jessica(AT)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com if you sign up. Matching socks anyone?!

CrossFit South Brooklyn Gymnastics Classes

Basic Gymnastics Tumbling Class
Join guest Gymnastics Coach Ken H as he takes you through 4 weeks of basic gymnastics tumbling.  The movements will build on themselves and get progressively more difficult. The basic gymnastics class will help students understand how to control their bodies through different movements, and being up-side-down.  The class is broken up into 4 distinct sections: Warm-up, Strength, Stretching, Gymnastics. Movements included in this program are: Forward/Backward Rolls, headstands, handstands, cartwheels, round offs and more! Space is limited so sign up now!  Please email hallerk(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.

Saturdays from 3pm – 4pm
1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9

Price:
$60 for 4 Weeks

Cap:
8 Participants

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.

What are your favorite and least favorite gymnastics movements?
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Obesity expert says daily workouts can’t undo damage done from sitting all day nbc News
Dark-Alley Defense CrossFit

Fitness: 3×5 Work Sets Across
Add 5lbs to last weeks Push Presses.

Performance: Work up to a heavy 3 rep set on the Push Press
Try and beat last week’s heavy 5.

Post loads to comments.
PP e2/6
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For Time:
65 Double Unders
20 Box Jumps, Games Standard 30/24″
55 Double Unders
15 Box Jumps
45 Double Unders
10 Box Jumps

Post time and Rx to comments.

900lbs of Meat and 15lbs of Weiner

Tell the DOT you want a Bike Rack at CFSBK

Attention CFSBKers! Please do us a solid and take 2 minutes to fill out a request for the DOT to install additional bike parking on our block.  The more people who fill this out the better chance we have of getting a rack installed. So, whether you ride a bike or not, do us a solid and fill this out please! Business information is located below the link.

Suggest A New CityRacks Location

Business, establishment or transit stop: CrossFit South Brooklyn
Street Address: 597 Degraw St
First cross street: 4th Ave
Second cross street: 3rd Ave
Borough: Brooklyn
Neighborhood: Gowanus
Block number (optional) 420
Lot number (optional) 58
Phone number of business or establishment (if applicable) 973-610-3628
Community board N/A
Anything else you would like to add? your own comments

Rest Day Dinner #1

Here are the details for the first RDD hosted by Dave, Rachel and their awesome dog, Nahla. They’ve got plenty of room for all and hope you can make it. To RSVP please email them at the contact information listed below. This year we’ve also included pictures of folks on the event pages (to the right) to help put names to faces!

Hosts: Dave, Rachel and Nahla
Host Contact: dgever(at)gmail.com
Location: 399 Ocean Parkway apt 6 L 11218 – its Ditmas Park , 4 stops on the F train from Park Slope. F train to Ditmas ave or the Q train to Cortelyou road
Time: Saturday 1/12 at 6pm
RSVP: We would like to have an idea of many people are going to show by next Wednesday 1/9 but dont actually need a final number until friday 1/11
What to bring: This will be a potluck event, the hosts will help coordinate dishes.

Have you noticed any positive adaptations from the LFPB Challenge Yet?
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A Tour of The International Space Station

Fitness: 3×5 Work Sets Across
Add 5lbs from last week’s exposure.

Performance: Work up to a heavy 3 rep set on the Front Squat
Go heavier than last week’s heavy 5

Post loads to comments.
FSQ e2/6
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3 Rounds of:
AMRAP 2 minutes
10 KB Swing, Heavy
10 AbMat Sit-Ups
Rest 4 minutes

3 Rounds of:
AMRAP 2 minutes
7 Hang Power Clean 135/95
14 AbMat Sit-Ups
Rest 4 minutes

The two minute work intervals should be treated like a sprint. Get as much work in as you can.

Whitney H (aka Dubb Hubb) takes a big breath while unracking for a big squat.

Front Desk and Bikes

Pretty soon CFSBK will be adding a staffed front desk to our reception area (like a real live business!) and will be making some improvements to the front end of the gym. This new service will make it easier for members to ask questions, know what’s going on around the gym, purchase merch or memberships and help us manage folks who walk in.  On a similar note as you may have noticed, the front end can become overwhelmed with bikes during busy hours.  Not only has this created a problem with people having their own bikes buried by others, it also limits our use of the front area ring row stations and makes movement around all the bikes generally difficult. Starting Monday the 14th we’ll not be allowing non-staff to store their bikes inside. To offset this we’ll purchase a bike rack to put in front of the roll up gate when it’s down. As much as we’d love to let folks park in the gym we can’t handle the volume of bikes we’ve been getting as it’s creating more problems than its solving.

MEAT CSA PICKUP TODAY, 6-8 PM

HAIL TO THE QUEEN!

On February 2nd, CrossFit Queens will be hosting its third annual “Hail to the Queens” Competition.  This is a female-only competition where both rx’d and scaled girls compete side by side.  This year they are expecting more competitors, bigger and better prizes and a larger event facility.  In order to make the competition experience the best possible, CrossFit Queens and

1. The movements of the first three WODs:
Burpees
Double Unders
HSPU
Thrusters
Snatch
Deadlift
Pullups
Situps

2. WODs will be announced as we get closer to the event.  However, all WODs will be variations of the Girl WODs. 

3. There will be a cut off for the surprise final WOD for Rx only. 

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Scientists Debut Robot That Can Run A Half-Marathon, Smugly Brag About It

Rest Day WOD:
If you haven’t already… fill out our 2013 Digital Waiver!

A New Project

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the CFSBK Community Paleo Potluck on January 19th. The RSVPs on the event page are already starting to roll in.

So Close To a Pull-Up..

Are you “So Close” to a pull-up? Do you feel like it’s within reach but has still eluded you despite your most sincere efforts? Below are three things I think will help folks who are close to pulling body weight get over the bar.

Start with Chin-Ups
Chin-ups are easier than pull-ups and you’re more likely to get your first chin-up sooner than your first pull-up so it’s a pretty good place to start. In my experience once a couple chins have been developed the pull-up magically shows up a lot faster. That being said, both versions are totally legit and huge milestones for anyone who didn’t have them before.  Chins are also easier for people to organize well. The upper arm is already rotated into a more stable position and the last few inches over the bar usually involve less neck craning and wiggling. Once you can do about 3-5 chin-ups you’ll be a Lot closer (if not already there) to the pull-up. When performing chin-ups, keep your hands just inside shoulder width and imagine pulling the bar down to your chest, not pulling yourself up to it. That cue usually helps people fire the upper back and pull the elbows posteriorly during the ascent, both good things.

Keep The Reps Low
If you’re struggling to get your first pull-up, your muscles experience the effort as a near maximal exertion.  You’re going for something that you’ll only be able to do 1 rep of (right now), so when we train to develop our first pull-up a lot of our reps should look and feel pretty similar.  Several doubles or singles with just enough resistance to clear the bar is better than high volume sets of 5 or 10 with much more assistance. If you were a 1 rep max obsessed lifter, you wouldn’t spend all your time doing sets of 5 and 10, you’d perform submax singles, doubles and triples more often to get your body ready for the effort.  Here are two examples of productive training sessions:

7 sets of 1 rep with ample rest
5 sets of 2-3 reps with ample rest

“Ample Rest” could be anywhere from a minute to three minutes depending on how much you require to get another successful rep. Because this is going to be a strain, make sure to warm-up with some ring rows and more heavily assisted pull-ups. 2-3 sets of 5 reps should be sufficient.

When you’re scaling workouts, use the lowest volume option possible. 20 Kipping pull-ups as Rxd on the workout might be 5 chin-ups for you. That component of the workout won’t have anywhere near the same conditioning effect but depending on your goals that might be okay.

That being said, a little volume isn’t a bad thing. Just remember that if you want to get a pull-up you’ve got to train in a way that feels similar to your goal.

Resistance Matters
While the big jump-stretch bands can be a valuble tool in this process, they shouldn’t the only or even the majority of assistance you use. In my opinion, having a good spotter is ideal. Someone who knows how to give you just enough help to make you finish the rep without any jerky movement, uneven assistance or too much pushing. You’ve got good hands on you if you never get “stuck” anywhere in the rep but still work really hard at the most difficult positions (the very top and the first few inches at the bottom). The range of motion should be smooth and you should be able maintain good organization throughout. Another option is using a band just below what you can do on your own and having a partner gently push you through the finish. Depending on the size, height and strength of everyone involved, sometimes this is a more practical solution and can lead to better spotting. If you’re working with someone who is not a coach or giving you too much/too little/weird help, tell them what you feel and work together to make it better. One major problem with bands alone is that at the top of a rep you’re getting the least help since the band tension decreases as you ascend.  If you’re flying solo, choose a band that helps you get all the way over the bar, not just enough so that when you reach your chin can barely make it over the bar. That’s a no rep.

Hopefully these three tips can help you find some success with getting your first pull-up. Make your goal to not only do it, but do it well. If you train smart in the beginning and pay attention to your neck and shoulder positions you’ll develop a solid foundation to build off of. If you make your emphasis simply getting any sliver of your chin over the bar, things will be a lot slower and less awesome for you.  To see exactly what I’m talking about, watch this MobilityWOD: Stop The Pull-Up Chicken Necking People

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An alien shows up in your apartment and asks you to show it 5 examples of what human culture has achieved. This can be technology, art, architecture, philosophy, science.. anything! What 5 things do you choose?

Fitness: Find your first 3×5 weight for the next 6 weeks of Linear progress.
Choose to pull from either a conventional or sumo stance

Performance: Work up to a heavy single
Choose from either conventional or sumo and work up to a heavy single. Perfect technique. You’ll be sticking with the DL version you choose today for the entire cycle. We’ll be doing some Dynamic Effort and Max Effort work along the way.

Post loads to comments.
DL e1/6
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4 Rounds Not For Time Of:
10 Dumbbell Bench Press
20 Banded Good Mornings
:30 Pallof Hold, each side

Find the heaviest weight you can get for 10 on the Bench Press.

Have you not filled out our 2013 Digital Waiver? If you haven’t filled this one out, now is the time to do it. We need to get everyone’s info updated for the new year, even if you joined 2 months or 2 years ago. Thanks!

Tough Titsday Powerlifting Meet Slideshow
(This slideshow set is Malcolm S’ photography)

Rest Day Dinner #1

Here are the details for the first RDD hosted by Dave, Rachel and their awesome dog, Nahla. They’ve got plenty of room for all and hope you can make it. To RSVP please email them at the contact information listed below. This year we’ve also included pictures of folks on the event pages (to the right) to help put names to faces!

Hosts: Dave, Rachel and Nahla
Host Contact: dgever(at)gmail.com
Location: 399 Ocean Parkway apt 6 L 11218 – its Ditmas Park , 4 stops on the F train from Park Slope. F train to Ditmas ave or the Q train to Cortelyou road
Time: Saturday 1/12 at 6pm
RSVP: We would like to have an idea of many people are going to show by next Wednesday 1/9 but dont actually need a final number until friday 1/11
What to bring: This will be a potluck event, the hosts will help coordinate dishes.

Mark Rippetoe At CrossFit South Brooklyn

CFSBK is honored to be hosting world renowned strength coach Mark Rippetoe on April 12-14.  Rip and his staff will be running a three day Starting Strength Seminar which will include a very (very) detailed analysis of the Back Squat, Bench Press, Press, Deadlift and Power Clean. Participants will learn about the mechanical components of the lifts and then be asked to both coach and perform them based on Rip’s teaching progressions and methods. This is a great event for all coaches as well as anyone interested in learning more (a lot more) about the lifts.

Massage with Inka

Inka has been part of the SBK community for nearly two years.  As an athlete, bodyworker, and regular to crossfit workouts, she understands first hand repetitive movement patterns and the stress they can put on the body. This familiarity allowed her to learn a wide variety of treatment techniques to help prevent overuse injuries. She strongly believes that the mind and the body are connected and that regular exercise and bodywork is a key component to maintaining one’s health.  

Inka is offering sports massage geared towards breaking down adhesions, relieving trigger points, unadhering myofascial restrictions, and increasing range of motion. Techniques include Myofascial Release and Trigger Point Therapy. 

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Evolution of Adaptation CrossFit
Relax Into Stretch