Performance

5 Rounds For time of:
10 Power Snatch 115/75
10 Burpees

If hip or ankle mobility prevents you from easily organizing the start position for the Snatch, start each rep from the hang position.
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Fitness

5 Rounds For time of:
10 Overhead Squats
10 Burpees

Post time and Rx to comments.

As I told most of you I’m working at summer camp.  I’m the Unit Director for boys at Pioneer Village, our program for 14-15 year olds.  These older kids are in a separate location from the younger ones, on the opposite side of our lake.  The program is focused on team building and leadership development through a more outdoor education geared curriculum- we cook breakfast and dinner over open fires everyday, go rock climbing, hiking, etc and all the kids go on a five day hike, bike or canoe trip.  I just returned from a trip with our more experienced kids hiking in the Adirondacks that culminated in a rafting trip through class 4 rapids.  Good fun.
Attached is a picture of “Crossfit Pioneer Village.”  One of my kids, Joe N. works out at his local affiliate in Norwalk so we did some WODs with the gear I brought up (and a few pieces I improvised on site).  Along with a daily schedule of swimming, hiking, field sports, general running around and trail running we did a pretty good job of keeping fit.
– Noah B

News and Notes

• Congrats to Dave E and Sara on getting hitched, and to Nate and Leslie O on the birth of Genevieve
• There will be no Classes on Saturday, August 11th for the Subway Series Event at CFSBK
• There is no Active Recovery this Saturday, August 4th
• We’ve still got 2 slots left for Coach Noah’s Kipping Pull-Up Skill Class this Sunday the 5th

LOC Winners!

Finally…the LOC Winners are in! Sergey B and Melissa L garnered the most votes amongst their peers. Their prize, in addition to the leaner versions of themselves, is 1 free month of unlimited Crossfit training at CFSBK! Both of our winners demonstrated amazing compliance during the challenge and the proof was in the results. Congrats to both Melissa and Sergey, we hope you continue on the path you’re on. Also, congrats to all the participants who saw the challenge through. There were significant changes observed in many of you and we hope you learned a bit about how to optimize your nutrition and lifestyle for your goals during the process.
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A Part Of Me Died 70s Big
Training With A Hangover Starting Strength
Chinese Team Weightlifting Youtube Channel
Top 10 Lessons I’ve Learned From CrossFit Invictus
How CrossFit Saved My Life: Miranda Oldroyd

Fitness

3×8 High Bar Back Squat
If you’re also squatting on Saturdays, add 5lbs
If you’re not squatting Saturdays, add 5-10lbs
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Performance

Spend 15 Minutes working up to a heavy 3 rep High Bar Back Squat. No failing, no bailing. Bext exposure will also be a heavy triple.
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Fitness/Performance:

5 Rounds NFT of:
10 Reps Kettlebell or Dumbbell RDL
Partner Paloff Hold: :45 each side

Post results to comments.

Nicole A with great alignment at the bottom of a Bench Press test

Still Time To Start Strength

There is still room left in the A and C cycles for Coach Jeremy’s Strength programs.  If you want to take some time and focus on getting stronger in the basic barbell lifts, sign up today!

A Cycle- Novice Cycle
July 30-Sept 21
Monday, Wednesday at 7pm, Friday at 6pm
Register Here!

C cycle–Morning Novice Cycle
July 30th-Sept 19th
Monday, Wednesday 6:30am
Registere Here

Why Are We Discouraging Failing?

     You may have noticed that we’ve been strongly discouraging people from failing on their lifts this cycle.  The rational behind this is two fold.  Firstly, when you fail, it means you’ve tested your absolute limit. You’ve gone to the horizon of your capacity and fallen over the edge. In the context of Testing new rep maxes, this is okay and a necessary part of strength training.  However every day is not a test and we don’t want you to max out to failure with any regularity. Our day in, day out workouts should be considered Training and an opportunity to go a little bit heavier than your previous efforts without reaching your absolute limits.  Training to failure too often can be taxing on the central nervous system and actually slow down your progress. If you focus on going “a little heavier than last time” you keep pushing the ceiling of your potential a little big higher instead of busting right through it and having no where to go but back down.
     The second major reason we want to make failing a rarity is for the psychological stress and negative expectations it can put on you.  If you’ve trained yourself to think, “okay when things get hard I’ve got an easy escape route in bailing” you learn to give up more often and associate missed reps as a regular part of your routine.  They don’t become significant, they don’t become a wake up call on where you’re at.. they just become the norm.  This can subtly undermine a lot of your self expectations and the mindset you bring into your lifts. 
     All that being said, we don’t want you to avoid lifting heavy and training hard. Once your technique is in order, you’re expected to grind through lifts.  Maximal Effort Method training is a staple of our programming and one of the best ways to get strong. It should feel difficult, it should feel heavy and you should expect to fight for it. Just like in real life, you don’t start fights you don’t think you can win, especially on a regular basis, all that does is screw with your confidence and send you limping home.  A skilled athlete doesn’t need to miss reps to know where their potential for the day is.  They have an innate sense of what they’re capable of and when to call it quits.  Any missed lifts moving forward should be considered learning experiences on your physical capacity, psychological outlook, technique and always put into the context of the intended training stimulus for that day.

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Exercise Of The Week: Pallof Press Eric Cressey
The 25 Greatest Olympic Moments of All Time Greatist
Attitude Adjustment Cathletics

Pre CFSBK 597 Degraw Street

Skills Class: The Kipping Pull-Up

Noah’s Kipping Pull-up workshop will be Sunday, August 5th at 5pm

Kipping pull-up require a significant amount of integrity in the shoulder girdle and as such this class requires a buy in of  1+ Strict Pull-Up (women) or 3 Strict Pull-Ups (men).  The class will be a $15 drop-in and space is limited to 8 participants.  Email Noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to sign up, make sure to mention your max number of dead hang pull-up and issues you’ve had learning/perfecting the kip so he can better prepare to get you swinging smoothly.

Skills Class: The Muscle Up

If you’ve been coming to the gym a lot, I bet you’ve noticed those round things hanging from the ceiling.  Aside from making very mediocre frisbees, the rings can be used for one of the most coveted and elusive Crossfit movements- The Muscle Up.  Combining all of the hardest parts of a pullup, a ring dip, and a barroom headbutt, the Muscle Up is a skill that can take a long time to learn on your own, but with careful practice and coaching can realistically be achieved in a fairly short time period.  Our own Coach Noah, born to the unholy union of a chain smoking Russian gymnastics coach and his lovely Chimpanzee bride Jenny Bananas, will be running a Skills Class devoted to learning, practicing, and developing the Muscle Up on Sunday, August 12th at 5:00 PM.  Space is limited to 8 participants, and those interested should sign Email Noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to sign up.  There is a $15 fee for the class and a strict buy in of 3 Unbroken Chest To Bar Pullups and 3 Ring Dips.

2 Slots Left For the CFSBK Gymnastics Series

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.  Space is limited so sign up now!  Please email hallerk(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.

Basic Gymnastics Tumbling Class Dates and Times:
Sundays from 2pm – 3pm
8/5, 8/12, 8/19, 8/26

Price:
$60 for 4 Weeks

Cap:
8 Participants
Register Here!

Rest Day Trivia!
1. The average man, woman, and child in this country drinks an average of how many Coca-Cola soft drink products per year? Closer to 3, 30, 130, or 300?

2. Considered the social and academic equivalent of the Ivy League colleges, the Seven Sisters Colleges, set up in 1915, were among the pioneers in higher education for women in the United States. Four of these colleges are Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr. Which are the remaining 3?

3. One of the great comebacks of the 1990’s belongs to a tennis star who returned to the sport two years after being stabbed by a tennis fan. Who is she?

4. How many numbers between 0 and 100 are divisible by both 6 and 8?

5. What is the only mammal that can fly?

As always, no researching for answers!
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Makes People Better CrossFit
38 Essential NY Restaurants NY Eater
Greg Glassman on Helping Affiliates

Fitness

Spend 15 minutes working on the Hang Power Clean and Push Press or Split Jerk. Remember to hit the “Jump” position on the way up.
___________________

Performance

Spend 15 minutes working on the the complex:
1 Power Clean + 1 Push Jerk + 1 Split Jerk.
Go only as heavy as you can keep clean for all reps in the complex. Focus on an aggressive drive UNDER the bar.

______________________
Fitness/Performance

3 Rounds of:
Dumbbell Bench Press, 12 Reps
Row Max Calories In 20 Pulls

Find a heavy 12 on the Dumbbell Bench, you can work up to a heavy set or start with something heavyish and stay there for all 3 sets. 

Post results to comments.

Arturo R on Kipping Pull-Ups

Last Chance To Sign Up For Strength!

A Cycle- Novice Cycle
July 30-Sept 21
Monday, Wednesday at 7pm, Friday at 6pm
Register Here!

Register Here!

4 Slots Left For The CFSBK Wine Wasting!
Date: Saturday, August 25th

If you have ever seen nywineguy on the white board – this is him.  Brian has been a Certified Sommelier within the Court of Master Sommeliers since 2008 and is currently the NY/NJ/Penn Manger for The Hess Collection Winery.  He has worked in all aspects of the wine industry from production to restaurants and stores to distribution and now represents one of the top family wine companies in the US.  Brian has been teaching about wine and training service staffs since 1995 and is also President of bottlejunction.com; a website dedicated to connecting small wineries and distributors.

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What are some of your favorite movie fight scenes?

Fitness

5-10-15-10-5 Reps for time of:
Dumbbell Thrusters
Jumping Pull Ups or Ring Rows
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Performance

5-10-15-10-5 Reps for time of:
Thrusters 95/65
Kipping Pull Ups

If you are doing any version of a strict pull-up, perform 3-6-9-6-3 reps

Post time and Rx to comments.
compare to “Fran” and “Narf”

Sarah J looking comfortable at the bottom of a 1RM

Happy Birthday, Kate D!

Dumbbell Thrusters

The Thruster is a common CrossFit exercise that requires you to squat below parallel with a load on your shoulders then thrust it overhead in one fluid movement. It’s commonly used as a potent conditioning tool and less commonly used as a strength developer.  Today’s workout has two versions of the Thruster, one with Dumbbells and the other with a Barbell.  While more total weight can be moved with a barbell, mobility limitations can make it very uncomfortable for many people to rack the barbell on their shoulders.  If you have a really hard time keeping your elbows up as you descend and find the movement stressful on your wrists, Dumbbell Thrusters are probably going to be your best bet.  Dumbbells also require more shoulder stability and are excellent at developing muscle symmetry. 
A common issue with dumbbell thrusters is that as you fatigue your weaker side may begin to collapse inwards at the rack position or fail to lock out overhead. Often the dumbbell will begin to drop toward your chest during the ascent and then barely make it to lock out.  This is a clear indication that you’ve got underdeveloped external rotators in your shoulder.  To get through the workout, you’ll have to either slow down significantly or reduce the weight of your dumbbells.  Trying to gut through a collapsing rack support is ill advised as it could put excessive stress on the soft tissue in and around your shoulder. Below are a few different things you can do pre/post workout to help develop this weak link:

We recommend you do them 2-3 times per week for 3 sets of 8-20 reps. 
Joe Defranos Shoulder Health Circuit

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1936 Olympics rowing: The greatest underdog, Nazi-defeating American Olympic victory you’ve never heard of Slate
“Fran” At the Arnold Classic
Miranda Does “Fran”