75%x5
85%x3
95%x1+

If you’re following a linear progression, add 2-5lbs and perform 3 work sets of 5 reps.

Post loads to comments.
compare to 3.7.12, 2.8.12, 1.18.12

21-15-9 Reps for Time of:
Front Squat 155/110
Pull-Ups

Choose a Front Squat load that you can do at least 10 reps unbroken with.  All Front Squats are taken from the Deck.  After this workout, spend 2:00 in the Couch Stretch for each leg.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Marco Goes Chest To Bar for 12.5

Alternate Training For This Weekend

We will not be holding normally scheduled classes this weekend while he host the CrossFit Powerlifting Certification with Shane and Laura Phelps-Sweatt.  As an alternative to our members not attending the certification, we’re offering training options on both days:

Saturday 3/31
What: Track WOD
When: 9:30-11:00am
Where: TBD- Red Hook Park (Possibly Closed) or Prospect Park, we’ll confirm tomorrow.
Organizers: CFSBK Coach-In-Training Melissa Loranger and Rickke Manazala
RSVP: Please email: Loranger_Melissa(at)yahoo(dot)com so we can get an accurate head count
Cost: None, This will not count as one of your weekly classes if you’re on a recurring membership or punch card.

Sunday 4/1
What: Open Gym
When: 6-9:30pm
Where: CFSBK!
Coach: David
Cost: 1 Drop in or weekly class

__________________
Why did we evolve to experience “runner’s high”? io9
Plan Your Weekly Meals Stress Free Lifehacker
Shoulder Savers Pt 1 with Eric Cressy T-Nation (WFS Version)
Shoulder Savers Pt 2 with Eric Cressy T-Nation (WFS Version)
Shoulder Savers Pt 3 with Eric Cressy T-Nation (WFS Version)

Congratulations to “The Warrior” Jacinto B on earning his ticket to the 2012 CrossFit Games.  Jacinto is a former CFSBK coach, friend of the program, Active Recovery attendee and hero to all. Jacinto will be competing in the Masters (60+) age division, this will be his third trip to the Games.

The Open Is Over!

Congratulations to all who participated in the 2012 CrossFit Open.  The workouts proved to be difficult and many showed admirable resolve in the face of intimidating movements, loads and rep schemes over the last 5 weeks. Our in house Open Champions are as follows:

Key: Name, Total Reps over all 5 workouts, (rank in the North East)

Men’s Division
1. Joe O’Neill: 876 Total Reps (r: 213)
2. Michael Mishik: 854 Total Reps (r: 257)
3. McDowell Myers: 839 Total Reps (r: 269)
4. Christian Reiss: 792 Total Reps (r: 525)
5. Dan Betz: 741 Total Reps (r: 646)

Women’s Division*
1. Melissa Loranger: 784 Total Reps (r: 149)
2. Ellie Myers: 753 Total Reps (r: 214)
3. Jessica Fox: 748 Total Reps (r: 279)
4. Kate Denny: 725 Total Reps (r:246)
5. Christine Denahan: 691 Total Reps (r: 462)
6. Kiki Proctor: 687 Total Reps (r: 367)

Masters 45-49 Division
1. Daniel Baldini: 453 Total Reps (r: 987)

Masters 50-54 Division
1. Robert Semmens: 619 Total Reps (r:96)

Team CrossFit South Brooklyn:
Ranked 58 out of 168 teams in the North East Region
Ranked 633 out of 1,774 teams Globally

*Scoring Note
Official CrossFit Open ranking is based on regional placement in each workout, not total reps. Because we’re comparing our in-house athletes, the order above is based on total reps. There are 6 spots included in the women’s divsion since Kiki’s Regional rank is within top 5 in our gym.

Top 3 Women World Wide
1. Kristan Clever 1,200 Total Reps
2. Julie Foucher 1,182 Total Reps
3. Annie Thorisdottir 1,159 Total Reps

Top 3 Men World Wide
1. Rich Froning 1,240 Total Reps
2. Sean Thomson 1,156 Total Reps
3. Kenneth Leverich 1,102 Total Reps

If you participated in the Open, please answer the following 3 Questions:
1. What did you get out of competing in the Open?
2. What did you think of the workouts?
3. Do you plan on participating next year?

______________________
5 Down CrossFit Games
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet sets a world record 173 Reps on 12.5 CrossFit Games

1 Power Clean, every minute, on the minute for 15 minutes.

Add weight at the 6th and 11th rep as appropriate.

Post loads to comments.

For Time:
Row 1K
Run 800m

Post time to comments.

“A few weeks ago I went to Norway to ski across the Hardanger Plateau and the fjords. Eight of us started in white-out conditions.  Winds were fierce.  Snow was terrible.  Navigation was often limited to map and compass.  Blonde Norwegian girls were nowhere to be found.  Six out of eight skiers quit before the end of the trip.  Only two of us finished.  Both of us CrossFit.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.” -Joe M

Remember to Take Your Shoes Home this week! All shoes left by the end of the weekend will be stuffed in a duffel bag and thrown into the gowanus. For more information, see yesterday’s post.

Grain-Free/Sugar Free Cooking Class #1

This Saturday, March 31st the Paleo NYC meetup group will be attending a Grain-Free/Sugar Free cooking class at 3:00pm.  The event will take place at Carol’s Place on 25th st between 6th and 7th ave in Manhattan. For more information and to register, click here. There are currently 13 people attending.

A Crossfit Shoe Primer
By Coach Noah

If you’ve been Crossfitting for a little while, odds are you’ve noticed that most of our athletes tend to sport some footwear that many would consider unconventional, old-school, or just plain weird.  While you can Crossfit in any pair of shoes, some types of shoes will optimize your ability to get in good positions, protect your body, and ultimately perform better.  Since among our coaches I own the dubious honor of being the resident shoe-ho, I will be your tour guide through the always controversial world of Crossfit footwear.  3, 2, 1, GO(d I am lame)!

Training Shoes

For most of the population, one pair of shoes should suffice to get us through 99% of Crossfit workouts.  These don’t have to be incredibly expensive, and may in fact be cheaper than the over-engineered running shoes currently on the market.  Rather than give you specifics about one shoe over another, following a few general rules should get you into something appropriate:
A (relatively) flat and (relatively) non-compressible sole:  Most of the activities we perform require the ability to “feel” the floor.  Many athletes have trouble keeping their heels down when they squat or shifting their weight forward when they swing a kettlebell simply because their shoes are so built up and cushioned that they simply have no concept of their foot’s relationship to the floor.  Look for a shoe with a sole that is flat and low, without any zany cutouts or hollows.  Ideally, the shoe will be close to “zero drop” a term which means that the heel and toe of the shoe are of the same height.  The sole should also be made of relatively firm rubber.  Some shoes, in their quest for greater cushioning have embraced such plush materials that you may as well be squatting wearing a pair of sweet potatoes on your feet, which while delicious, is not ideal.

Lightweight aka the Single Digit Rule: An easy rule I’ve come to embrace is that any show I wear to work out in should weigh under 10 ounces.  Many weigh under 8, and there are some under 6 and even a few under 4.  The lighter the better, although I personally question whether your feet know the difference between 4.6 and 5.3 ounces.  Mine certainly don’t, but they, like their owner, are stupid.
Rad colors:  This is a personal sentiment, but c’mon folks, this isn’t black tie footwear we’re talking about. 

Most of these shoes fall into the “racing” or “performance” running shoe category.  Manufacturers use these terms to signify that when trying to run fast (like, say, for a race), people will want light shoes that don’t make their feet act stupid.  Since we are Crossfitters, and are ALWAYS RACING, we can just wear them all the time.

Weightlifting Shoes

Dedicated weightlifting shoes take the concept of a firm sole to the next level, using either ultra hard
synthetic (EVA or similar) or real-honest-to-paleo-god wood(!) for maximum stability and to better transmit force from the lifter to the floor.  These are purpose specific shoes, which violate the “no heel” rule above- most weightlifting shoes have a heel of about ½ to 1inch high, to allow for more ankle flexion at the bottom of squats, which helps mobility/positioning under heavy load.  Consider:

Pros:
Incredibly stable
Aids in mobility and positioning at the bottom of squats and in force transmission
Can “add” weight to your lifts (somewhat illusory/placebo, but whatever)

Cons
Most are expensive
Extremely purpose specific.  If you wear them to a bar, people will laugh at you.  Ask me how I know this.
Look like they were designed by a team consisting of my grandpa, Frankenstein, and a Hell’s Angel (except for the super sexy Nike Romaleos, which cost approximately the GDP of Belarus.)

Some other quick thoughts

LSD Shoes: No, these are not shoes to wear while attempting the Dark Side of The Moon/Wizard of Oz mashup- I’m referring to Long Slow Distance.  If you are planning to run substantial distance, or are training for a long race and logging significant miles, you may want to invest in some purpose specific running shoes.  Especially if you have not practiced (or suck at) minimalist/POSE/Chi running, you may want to avoid super-minimal shoes.  While a super-efficient runner may get away with a length of tractor tire duct taped around his foot, most of us could benefit from a little bit of cushioning in our shoes.  There are plenty of models out that split the difference between the conventional Staypuft Marshmallow Man meets Cadillac Biarritz shoe and dipping your feet in candle wax before your marathon.  Ease into it.

Chuck Taylors: Worn by the everyone from Wilt Chamberlain to Kurt Cobain to toddlers everywhere, Chucks are in many ways the perfect Crossfit shoe.  They’re flat, non-compressible, fairly light, and cheap.  Plus, you can wear them in the “real” world, which cuts down on WOD to “first beer of the weekend” transition time on Friday.  The only real downside is that they are a bit clunky to run in, and don’t make you feel like a ninja.

Vibram Five Fingers: I’m going to take some flack for this, so I will be gentle, but I don’t particularly care for VFF’s (yes, in the name of science, I do own a pair.)  VFFs arose from well-intentioned folk who wanted a more minimalist training shoe when there weren’t many options out there.  Now there are plenty of shoes that blend minimal/lightweight design and the benefits of modern technology.  Five Fingers are offer poor stability during lifting, and are inadequately padded for box jumps, double unders, and sprints.  I do think Five Fingers can be useful for training runs or to practice minimalist running, as they do offer great ground feedback, but as I mentioned earlier, that feedback comes at a price.  If you can run fast in Five Fingers, you can run faster in real sneakers, trust me. 

Ok!  Enough about shoes already!  You get the drift- light, flat, not squishy.  Cheap and colorful are pluses.  If you have any other questions, want my thoughts on Shoe A vs. Shoe B, have specific training goals or injury history to consider, or just want to talk about feet, email me at noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com

What Shoes do you train in and why?
________________
CrossFit and Kenya CrossFit
Report: Some People Wake Up When It’s Still Dark Outside (for our 6am Crew)
Caffeine and Performance Robb Wolf
Abs Mark Rippetoe

Spend 15 minutes working on Front Levers.

The emphasis of today’s training is learning how to create a ridig body.  The application of this is invaluble to a variety of differnent exercises.

Post exerience to comments.

For Time:
Row 500m
then,
21-15-9 Reps of:
Kettllebell Swings
Push-Ups
Double Unders

Post time and Rx to comments.

Coach Laurel Works Front Levers

Our resident author Martha So will be part of a literary panel on Black Women and fiction at NYU on this Wednesday the 28th. Martha and several other authors will be discussing emerging views on race, gender, politics and identity in modern literature. 

Congratulations to Dave Sc who PR’d his 5K with a 21:32 at the Red Hook Crit 5K last night!

CFSBK Spring Cleaning: Shoes

Over the next few weeks CFSBK will be doing a little spring cleaning. Starting tomorrow we’re asking all our members to take the shoes they store at the gym home. There are plenty of unclaimed and abandoned shoes taking up valuable space and we want to know which they are. You’ll be able to bring your shoes back on Thursday, April 5th. Unclaimed shoes will be donated.

_________________
Fast Twitch Versus Slow Switch TTMJ
Chad Vaughn Overhad Squats 335×5 CrossFit
“Lead and Rear Straights” with George Ryan CrossFit Striking

Perform as Many Reps as Possible in 7 Minutes of the following rep scheme:
3 Barbell Thrusters
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
21 Barbell Thrusters
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups…
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 21, go on to 24. If you complete 24, go on to 27, etc.

Rx’d loading for the Thrusters is 100lbs for men, 65lbs for women.

Gymnastics WOD breakdown of 12.5
Mobility WOD breakdown of 12.5

Post Rx and total reps to comments.
compare to 4.26.11

CFSBK Funny Woman Radhika V leaves today for India to perform her one-woman comedy show ‘Unladylike: The Pitfalls of Propriety’ in Mumbai and New Delhi.  Good luck, RAD!!
Photo Credit: Katarina Kojic

Happy belated Birthdays to Lana Z 3/17, Luca L 3/18, Dan E 3/21 and Happy For Realzies birthday today to Jackie Z!

Keep em Coming!

We’re totally crushing on all you guys. Thanks for sending us information on all the great things you’re up to.  Got something of note? Let us know! We want to hear about your promotions, events, personal victories, discoveries, media campaigns, small government coup d’états and birthdays! Send awesomeness to David(at)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com. 

How have you enjoyed the beautiful weather so far?
__________________________
Focus Group about hydration needs for athletes at Sheep’s Station
7 Most Common Power Clean Technique Mistakes Eric Cressey
Ack! My elbows hurt Mobility WOD
Hey! Give me more Elbow love!
Ack! My wrists hurt when I Overhead Squat Mobility WOD