Performance:
Work up to a heavy single.

Fitness:
Work up to a heavy triple

If you made Wednesday’s squat exposure then perform 3×5 at 75% of that exposure. Do NOT attempt another test set if you already did this week. If the load changes it won’t be a significant difference from your first attempts. Use today go get some volume in.

If you didn’t make it in on Wednesday, these weights will help infer your starting loads for the next cycle. go heavy but don’t fail.

Post loads to comments.
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For Time:
Run 1 Mile

Benchmark this classic distance.
compare to 12.12.12 or 2.26.12

Meet the Farmers Today!

Jerry Peele and Christine Harrington from Herondale Farms (providers of our meat, poultry and egg CSAs) will visit CFSBK from 8:30-1. They’ll be in the house to answer questions, sell bacon, sausage, hot dogs and eggs, show off a sample 15-lb meat share, and sign folks up on the spot for all of their CSA options. They can even accept your share payments.

Just like last time, they’ll also be selling raffle tickets for a 15-lb share, and at noon they’ll choose a lucky winner to take that meaty goodness home. Good luck!

Upcoming CrossFit Group Class Lifting Schedule

The new lifting cycle starts on Monday 4/22  and will include all the main lifts: Squat, Press, Bench Press, Deadlift, and Power Clean. As usual we’ll have a Fitness progression and a Performance progression. It’ll look like this:

• Monday – Press. Fitness 3×5 LP, Performance 5/3/1
• Wednesday – Low Bar Back Squat. Fitness 3×5 LP, Performance 5/3/1 or Recovery Day 
• Thursday – Bench Press. Fitness 3×5 LP, Performance 5/3/1 + Power Clean Fitness and Performance EMOTM work 
• Saturday – Low Bar Back Squat. Fitness 3×5 LP, Performance 5/3/1 or Recovery Day 
• Sunday – Deadlift. Fitness 1×5 LP, Performance 5/3/1

Three cheers to gettin’ swole!
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Michael Pollan Cooks! NYT

Rytas S Pushing Under the Bar

• There is no Active Recovery or Comp Class this weekend as David is in Holland until the 26th. That does not stop you from taking at least half an hour out of your weekend to handle your AR buisness.

Farmers at CFSBK Tomorrow!

One of the most important benefits of belonging to a CSA is the opportunity to know your farmer – in person! On Saturday, April 20, Jerry Peele and Christine Harrington from Herondale Farms (providers of our meat, poultry and egg CSAs) will visit CFSBK. Come say hi!

From 8:30-1, they’ll be in the house to answer questions, sell bacon, sausage, hot dogs and eggs, show off a sample 15-lb meat share, and sign folks up on the spot for all of their CSA options. They can even accept your share payments.

Just like last time, they’ll also be selling raffle tickets for a 15-lb share, and at noon they’ll choose a lucky winner to take that meaty goodness home.

Questions? Email Michele at mignyc (at) gmail.com.

If you had a 3D printer, what kinds of things would you print for yourself?
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Chad Vaughn Coaches Kayla Baumgardner CrossFit
Blood Work TTMJ
3D Printed Guns VICE
MakerBot Brooklyn

Performance:
Work up to a heavy single.

Fitness:
Work up to a heavy triple

These weights will help infer your starting loads for the next cycle. go heavy but don’t fail.

Post loads to comments.
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15 Minutes NFRs of
Run 270m
10 Box Jumps
10 Toes to Bars

Ariel Splittin’ Some Jerks

Developing Your Handstand

Anyone who came in on Monday or Tuesday had an opportunity to work on their handstands in class. Some folks were seasoned hand balancers while others were working towards their first full inversion. If you’re new to the handstand game, read over these tips to start moving in the right direction.

Basics

• “Active Shoulders” mean that you’re shrugging up and back slightly. Try to open your armpits and push the floor down.
• Your elbows must ALWAYS be locked out. If they bend, you’ll collapse
• Grab the floor with your spread out fingers, your fingernails should turn white
• Eyes are looking right between your hands on the floor the entire time. Your neck will be extended JUST enough to make this happen. No more, no less.
• When in doubt.. SQUEEZE!! The more moving parts you allow in the system, the harder it is to organize. Think of making your body as rigid as possible.
• Practice makes good enough. Being on your hands is weird at first. Practice the skill 2-4 times per week in order to accelerate your development. A handstand session can be anywhere from 3-10 minutes, the latter being with LOTS of rest. Don’t practice in a fatigued state. Less is more sometimes.

Static before Dynamic
Before you attempt kicking up to full handstand you have to develop the shoulder strength and body control required to take your weight from your feet all the way to your hands. Wall walks are a great place to start and an easy way to develop some shoulder integrity without worrying about coordinating a kick up.  Start slow with these and do sets of 3-5 walks holding your most inverted position for 3-5 seconds. Some folks will have to start only going up about half way to a 45 degree angle while others may be able to get within a hands length of the wall.  Focus on active shoulders and a rock solid midline. Minimize knee bend as you go up and down the wall, try to tip toe down using your ankles. Finally, you should never go up further than you’re comfortable with and your hands should never go within 6-8 inches to the wall. If your hands are touching the wall you’ll probably flip over onto your back. NO BUENO.

Halvsies before Wholsies
Once you feel comfortable supporting your body weight on your hands you can start working on kick ups. We did this in class with a spotter but you can also do this on your own using a wall.  Organizing the initial approach into the kick up is critical. If you start this process slowly there will be much less extraneous momentum that you’ll need to deal with later on. Remember, you can SLOWLY kick up into a handstand, it should feel more like a big reach that a flip. Watch this video to understand how to position your body for this portion. Once you can do that consistently start kicking up higher and higher with your lead leg while your trail leg stays low in a split. This will allow you to get all your body weight onto your hands while still controlling your body position By keeping the back leg low you increase your margin for error on each kick up. Get to the point where your lead leg’s heel can gently tap the wall and come back down. The final step would be to gently get both heels to the wall. While he’s not using a wall, this video shows you what I’m talking about. Practice this regularly and focus on how graceful you can make the whole process. Get good at kicking up with both legs.

In a future article we’ll talk about the next steps in handstand development. 
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Workaholics Working Out
Team Muscle Driver Training

Performance:
Work up to a heavy single.

Fitness:
Work up to a heavy triple

These weights will help infer your starting loads for the next cycle. go heavy but don’t fail.

Post loads to comments.
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Double-Under Therapy
We’ll spend some time working on double under development and efficiency. Afterwards take ten minutes to either set a new unbroken PR, or simply practice the skill.

Kevin Rooney (right) boxing in an office fundraiser that raised over 60k for a variety of charities. Kevin won the fight in a round and a half. Thanks to Sarah M for the pic!

Attn: CSA members and food lovers… come meet the farmers!!

One of the most important benefits of belonging to a CSA is the opportunity to know your farmer – in person! On Saturday, April 20, Jerry Peele and Christine Harrington from Herondale Farms (providers of our meat, poultry and egg CSAs) will visit CFSBK. Come say hi!

From 8:30-1, they’ll be in the house to answer questions, sell bacon, sausage, hot dogs and eggs, show off a sample 15-lb meat share, and sign folks up on the spot for all of their CSA options. They can even accept your share payments.

Just like last time, they’ll also be selling raffle tickets for a 15-lb share, and at noon they’ll choose a lucky winner to take that meaty goodness home.

Questions? Email Michele at mignyc (at) gmail.com.

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CrossFit Games Update
3D Printing and the future of stuff

Nate recently visted CrossFit Fenway. “Great box right across the street from Fenway Park. Got hazed considerably for being from NY (made me do an extra round of the WOD)”

• We’re in “back off week” where we start prepping for the upcoming cycle. If you’ve been hitting it hard lately, make some extra time in your personal life for some R&R.

PR City!

Here are some recent accomplishments from some CFSBKers. If you’ve got a recent PR or accomplishment, post it to comments.

Whitney H: 0:42 L-Sit
Coach Melo: 9:24 “Helen, 12:04 “DT”, 15:59 30 Muscle-Ups for time
Jake L: 240lb Snatch, 297lb Clean and Jerk
Coach Jeremy: 225lb Press
Charlotte K: 155lb Bench Press
Courtney H: First Chin-up

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by yesterday’s tragedy in Boston. The CFSBKers who were in attendance at the Marathon are all okay.
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Shelter From The Storm CrossFit