WOD 8.4.18

4 Rounds
AMRAP 5 Minutes:
30 Double-Unders
15 Russian Kettlebell Swings 24/16kg
5 Burpee Box Jumps 24/20″

Rest 5 minutes between rounds.

Scale Dubs to 60 Singles or 10 attempts as needed to keep moving. The Kettlebell should be be light enough for you to swing all rounds unbroken, and the box height should be totally approachable. Go for it on each round today.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

A post shared by CrossFit South Brooklyn (@crossfitsouthbrooklyn) on Aug 1, 2018 at 12:52pm PDT

New tie-dyed tank tops are now available at the front desk or in our online store. These groovy, unisex tanks are a limited run item, so get one while they’re still in stock! 

Zen and the Art of Crush Week

By David Osorio

Editor’s Note: Have you heard the news? This is our last Crush Week for a while. So today we’re posting this blog classic (originally posted in 2011 and reposted may times since) on the mental aspect of Crush Week. Use it this weekend, and try to put it into effect whenever you’re up against a tough workout!

In traditional meditative disciplines, you aim to cultivate mindfulness in a physically neutral setting. Often the practitioner sits in a comfortable position and tries to bring attention toward their breathing. In yoga, we see a more dynamic approach where rhythmic breathing becomes interwoven with a controlled flow through a series of postures. In both of these instances, the intention is for the pilot to become more tuned in to the “now.”

In CrossFit, we achieve something very similar through a very different approach. During an intimidating lift or difficult conditioning piece, you’re forced to deal with the moment at hand. The high discomfort level of what we do takes that moment and amplifies the physical inputs to the point where you can’t help but focus on what’s happening. You know this intuitively and it’s why you get nervous before a 500m erg test or 3 rep max back squat attempt. You know that once you start, you’ll be forced to deal with the “now” until it’s all over. Every second gets dragged out and every moment to rest or doubt yourself becomes amplified against what needs to get done.

Take this opportunity to set your intention for the approaching workouts. Whenever you find yourself deep in the agonizing “now,” embrace it and stay on task. Don’t look around the room to see where everyone else is, don’t check the clock to see how much time has gone by, and don’t make excuses to try and avoid what you’re feeling. Just keep fighting the barbell up or chipping away at reps until you’ve completed the task. If you lose focus and get derailed, don’t let it mess with your head, just come back pushing harder. Remember, you’re here to get stronger, both physically AND mentally.

News and Notes

• We’ll be showing the final events of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597 during Open Gym hours (6 to 8pm) tomorrow night. Bring food, drinks, and friends!
• Missing something? It might be in our most recent lost and found dump! Be sure to claim your stuff at the front desk before we donate it to CHIPS in a few weeks.

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2018 Individual Athlete Guide: Men CrossFit Games
2018 Individual Athlete Guide: Women CrossFit Games

Congrats to Coach Frank, who took home the gold medal in his weight class at last weekend’s USA Weightlifting American Open Series 2! Frank will now begin training to compete in the 89kg weight class at Series 3 in Las Vegas

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. Come out tonight during Open Gym for our first-ever cornhole tournament. It’s super fun and easy to learn. The games begin at 6:30pm!

2. ALSO, we’ll be showing the final events of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597 during Open Gym hours (6 to 8pm) on Sunday night. Predictions for the top 3 women and men?

3. CFSBK’s resident anthropologist Katie H. is shipping out to India and Australia to find out more about their CrossFit cultures. On Monday, she told us about that work and what she hopes to learn overseas. It’s a great read!

4. This is our last Crush Week for the foreseeable future. Some of you will cheer. Some of you will cry. Some of you will cheer and cry. On Tuesday, Coach Fox explained the reasoning behind this decision and told us how CFSBK’s programming will and will not change.

5. Want to get better on the ol’ jump rope? On November 3rd, we’re hosting the CrossFit Workshop: Jump Rope. This is a hands-on, fast-paced, fun seminar at which participants learn how to use a simple and effective tool to energize their programming and workouts.

6. Our beloved, longtime Pilates teacher KH is leaving to open her own Pilates studio in Manhattan, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop offering Pilates! Starting August 12th, Pilates will move to Sundays at 12pm and will be coached by Karina S.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: “DT” in a Boat
Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Character; It’s a Lack of Cash TED (video)
Obese to Beast CrossFit Journal (video)

“DT” in a Boat

3 Rounds for Time:
500m Row
2 Rounds of “DT” 155/105

“DT”= 12 Deadlifts + 9 Hang Power Cleans + 6 Push Jerks

The limiting factor determining load on the barbell will likely be the Jerks, which should be medium-heavy for you. Scale load as needed so that most sets of jerks can be done unbroken. Each round of “DT” should take around a minute, so considering scaling volume overall to 9 Deadlifts + 6 Hang Power Cleans + 3 Jerks if you can handle the load and want to bias more of a strength stimulus.

Pro Tip on breaking up “DT”: The final rep of each movement leads into the next, so instead of doing 12 Deadlifts and dropping the bar, do 11… break… then the 12th rep, putting you in a position to begin the 1st Hang Power Clean. Same for the Hang Power Cleans into the Push Jerks. Or you could just, ya know, do the whole thing unbroken.

Post time and Rx to comments.

“If a regular* Pilates practice doesn’t make you a better athlete, I will eat a Nike Metcon”—an actual quote from Karina 

Starting August 12th: Sunday Pilates with Karina!

Our beloved, longtime Pilates teacher KH is leaving to open her own Pilates studio in Manhattan, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop offering Pilates. Starting August 12th, Pilates will move to Sundays at 12pm and will be coached by our own Karina S.!

Coming from a background of competitive cross country skiing, Karina saw the benefits of a regular Pilates practice immediately and signed up for teacher training after her first session. She believes Pilates allows us to regain the freedom of movement we enjoyed as children, and that transforming fitness into a form of play is essential to creating a life-long practice.

Her classes are vigorous and full of laughter with an emphasis on proper grounding and alignment.

Karina has trained everyone from Division 1 Linebackers to those barely able to walk into the studio. She completed her Balanced Body certification at Paragon Pilates & Physical Therapy studying under Cari Riis Stemmler, Tiza Wynn Riley, and Roger Gonzalez Hibner. She has completed continuing education in Hands on Cueing Techniques, Pre and Post Natal Pilates, Low Back Pain and many other topics. She has experience working with a wide range of spinal conditions as well as many other injuries and limitations.

*regular=at least once a week

Weekend Events

We’ve got some fun stuff going on at the gym this weekend, and you won’t wanna miss it! Here’s what’s happening:

• Friday night, during Open Gym, we’re running a cornhole tournament. It’s super fun and easy to learn. The games begin at 6:30pm!
• During Sunday’s Open Gym hours, we’ll be showing the final events of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597. 

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Front Squats, Burpees, Toes-to-Bars
2018 Instagames: Day 1 CrossFit Games
What Do 90-Somethings Regret Most? Medium

WOD 8.1.18

AMRAP 15 Minutes:
5 Front Squats 185/125
10 Lateral Bar Burpees
15 Toes-to-Bars

The Front Squats come off the floor. The first rep can be a full Clean, and they should be on the medium-heavy side for you for 5 reps. The Burpees are Rx’d as a two-foot take off and landing. Stepping over is a scaling option. Scale range of motion on the Toes-to-Bars to Hanging Leg or Knee Raises as needed.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

November 3rd: CrossFit Jump Rope Workshop at CFSBK

Want to get better on the rope? On November 3rd, we’re hosting the CrossFit Workshop: Jump Rope. This is a hands-on, fast-paced, fun seminar at which participants learn how to use a simple and effective tool to energize their programming and workouts. The workshop features longtime CrossFit proponent and 1992 U.S. Olympian Buddy Lee, who is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost jump-rope authorities. Participants will leave the workshop with clear paths to elusive jump-rope skills such as double-unders, triple-unders and more.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The CrossFit Workshop: Jump Rope teaches participants how to:

• Use optimal biomechanics for jump-rope mastery.
• Properly set up jump-rope equipment.
• Correctly adjust the jump rope for optimal results.
• Use progressions that form the base of jump-rope techniques: basic jumping, speed jumping, power jumping (double-/triple-unders).
• Use visualization, imagery, breathing and relaxation techniques in combination with dynamic jump-rope path patterns (forward, backward, sideways, crossover, infinity).
• Program various jump-rope techniques into CrossFit workouts—beyond single-/double-/triple-unders.

What are you waiting for?

Register Here!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Dial in the Phases of the Snatch and Clean Catalyst Athletics
Myles Turner: In the Flow The Players’ Tribune (video)

The whole crew from the Barbell Medicine seminar we hosted over the weekend. Thanks for stopping in, gang! | Photo courtesy of Leah from BBM

On Crush Week

By Chris Fox

In the coming cycle, you’ll notice the conspicuous absence of “Crush Week,” the week of programming that has served as an end cap to programming cycles for over 5 years now. The initial intention of Crush Week was to throw down a bit, get outside our comfort zones, and have some fun with longer “Hero-“type WODs that at the time we didn’t really have the resources to run on a regular basis. In many ways it would also serve as a “testing” week, where we’d use these longer-heavier-higher skill metcons to measure improvement of particular movements that we’d trained for the weeks leading up to it. It’s generally always been a week of high volume and intensity, sort of like our own little CrossFit Games, but has presented a challenge for us regular Janes and Joes to properly recover from. You can probably get away with going from doing “Morrison” at 6am directly into sitting at a desk for 6+ hours and be just fine within a day or so. Doing that for 5 days in a row, however… not so much.

While many of you vocally supported Crush Week and looked forward to it, we realize that as many of you silently (and some not so silently) dreaded it and would regularly find reasons to miss those weeks. We get it, Crush Week was brutal. As we ask all of you to do day in and day out, we’re constantly learning, evolving, and changing. In terms of our group class programming, we’ve become increasingly suspicious of the actual training value of Crush Week (as opposed to the perceived value) and feel it’s time to experiment with leaving it out for a while. While lots of people do find a 5-day beatdown “fun,” we feel we can be smarter and space out “crushing” workouts more evenly rather than save them all up for one full week.

The nuts and bolts of a group class programming cycle will look pretty much the same, and if you’re a bit newer to CFSBK, or generally just show up and take each day as it comes, you may not even notice a difference. Most classes will follow the general template of:

DROMS/Warm-Up > Strength/Skill Training > Metcon Prep + Metcon

We’ll still program in mesocycles, using those 6-10 weeks to practice and build strength, skill, and competency in a few chosen movements. We’ll still program regular metcons and not-for-time work of varied mode and time domains to improve conditioning and recovery. The removal of an entire week of Crush Week workouts allows us to now pepper in some of them throughout the cycle while giving space in the preceding and following days to better accommodate for them. This is to say that programming at CFSBK is not about to get easier, just a bit smarter.

As always, we deeply appreciate your trust and commitment to being a part of the process here and value your feedback. If you have any thoughts you’d like to offer on either programming or other aspects of the gym in general, please take a few moments to do so by clicking the link below. Thank you!

CFSBK Feedback Form

Upcoming Events

We’ve got some fun stuff going on at the gym this weekend, and you don’t wanna miss it! Here’s what’s happening:

• Friday night, during Open Gym, we’re running a cornhole tournament. It’s super fun and easy to learn. The fun starts at 6:30pm!
• During Sunday’s Open Gym hours, we’ll be showing the final events of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597. 

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Yesterday’s Results Board: “Run, Cindy, Run!”
Teen Loses Half His Body Weight, Offers Advice to Peers CrossFit Journal
Emotions of the 2018 Regionals CrossFit Games (video)

“Run, Cindy, Run!”

3 Rounds for Time:
800m Run
5 Rounds of “Cindy”

Cindy = 5 Pull-Ups + 10 Push-Ups + 15 Squats

Scale the runs to 550m as needed of you can’t complete the 800s under 5 minutes. Scaling for Pull-Ups is Ring Rows or Jumping Pull-Ups, and Push-Ups is Knee Push-Ups. The “Cind”y rounds should take about a minute. Scale volume to 3-4 rounds per set if you want to work on a more challenging pull/push version that ends up taking much longer than that.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Katie H. racks the bar after a successful lift at Iron Maidens 2018

An Update from CFSBK’s Resident Anthropologist

By Katie Rose Hejtmanek

Hi CFSBKers! Your local anthropologist here. I want to give you all a quick update. I’m winding down my US-based research and heading overseas this fall for preliminary investigations into CrossFit in Australia and India. Why Australia and India? In both India and Australia, I am interested in what happens in the CrossFit gym–what parts of CrossFit travel well and which parts are made more local. For example, on international yoga day, the Indian CrossFit gym included yoga in their WOD. So the fact of a WOD and the idea of making a WOD culturally meaningful traveled, but that it was yoga, one of India’s most famous physical practices, seems uniquely Indian. My question is, essentially, how do these gyms add to the basic recipe that is CrossFit to make it their own?

CrossFit is not, however, just the daily practice that happens in the gym. This daily work is in conversation with CrossFit writ large, including who trains for and makes it to Regionals and the Games. It means something for individuals to go to and gyms to send people to these elite CrossFit competitions. Therefore, I chose Australia because Australian women dominate CrossFit at the international level (along with Iceland) and many Australian men make it to the Games. Does gym culture get shaped by the fact that Australians are some of the best CrossFitters? If so, in what ways? What is the relationship between the everyday WODs and the fact that Australians are crowned fittest on earth?

I chose India because it has a long tradition of physical culture and is becoming an important market for CrossFit, but so far no one has made it to the Games. India is known for other physical practices and sports–yoga and wrestling–and is home to world champion cricketers (check out CFSBKer Samir Chopra’s book Eye on Cricket). The gym where I will be, which has been going strong for 8 years, just won a national-level award–an ICON award–for being the most innovative health and fitness brand in India. But Indian CrossFitters don’t see themselves represented at the elite competitions. Does that matter in the gym? What relationship does the everyday WOD in India have with elite competition?

I will be doing this work during my fall sabbatical, staying about 2-3 months in each place. Like with my research here, I’m sure new questions and insights will emerge as I stay for a while, listen to people, and learn. If you were doing this project, what would you want to know? What would you ask?

Before I head out, I will be having a little bon voyage party at Pig Beach on Saturday August 11, after Open Gym. Please come by!

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Powerlifting Doesn’t Care What I Look Like The Nib
This Is What 6 CrossFit Games Athletes Eat for Breakfast Reebok

Snatch

Performance
Snatch 1RM

Warm up and build to a 1RM for the day.

Fitness
Snatch Deadlift + Mid-Hang Snatch + Overhead Squat

If you’re newer to the lift, build to a heavy load for the day on the complex.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 8 of 8

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Every Minute on the Minute x 10:
10 Russian Kettlebell Swings, as heavy as possible
Forearm Plank the remainder of the minute

If the Kettlebell Swings take you 20 seconds, hold a plank for 40 seconds before popping back up for the next 10 Swings.

Post work to comments.

Coach Callie demos an arm bar escape with Carlos at our Sunday Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class

Today’s Schedule

Today we’re hosting a sold out Barbell Medicine Seminar at 597 Degraw. We’re mostly running on our normal schedule, with the exception of the following classes:

• 11am CrossFit Kids is cancelled.
• We will not be able to offer Open Gym hours outside the usual 6 to 8pm.

Our front desk staff will be at 608 Degraw. Please check in for all classes there! 

THIS FRIDAY: CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT

WHAT?

An evening of friendly cornhole competition. Haven’t played before? Don’t worry! It’s pretty simple, and this video explains everything. All are invited! Please leave a comment on the event page if you plan to participate. Teams (of 2) can declare beforehand, or we’ll pair you up at the tournament.

WHEN?

Friday, August 3rd at 6:30pm during Open Gym. We’ll have the cornhole boards set up periodically over the next few weeks so you can practice.

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PSA: You Have a Second Brain Deep in Your Butt Mel
Injury Prehab with Natural Movement Breaking Muscle

Partner WOD

In teams of 2 with one partner working at a time, alternate full rounds of…

AMRAP 6 Minutes:
8 Power Cleans 115/80
8 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9

Rest 4 minutes, then…

AMRAP 8 Minutes:
4 Power Cleans 165/115
8 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9

Rest 4 minutes, then…

AMRAP 10 Minutes:
2 Power Cleans 205/135
8 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9

The Power Cleans should begin on the light side and get progressively heavier through each workout, ending with a load that’s heavy for you. Scale the prescribed loads as needed.

Post rounds, reps, Rx, and partner to comments.

A post shared by CrossFit South Brooklyn (@crossfitsouthbrooklyn) on Jul 26, 2018 at 6:46pm PDT

Here is our Next Level Weightlifting Club coach Frank M. Snatching 140 kg  (308 lb). Frankie is lifting in The American Open Series 2 this Sunday. Frank will compete as a 94kg in the A Session, which can be viewed online. Good luck, Coach Frankie!

Weekend Schedule Changes

Today, July 28th and Sunday, July 29th, we are hosting a sold out Barbell Medicine Seminar at 597 Degraw. We’re mostly running on our normal schedule, with the exception of the following classes:

• On Saturday, the 28th, the following classes are cancelled: 8am Strong Fit, 9am CrossFit group class, 10am Short Circuit, and 11am Anti-Gravity Strength.
• On Sunday, the 29th, 11am CrossFit Kids is cancelled.
• We will not be able to offer Open Gym hours outside the usual 2 to 4pm  on Saturday and 6 to 8pm on Sunday.

Our front desk staff will be at 608 Degraw both days. Please check in for all classes there! 

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These Boots Are Made for Lifting BarBend
The Complicated Politics of… Refrigerators? JSTOR Daily

CFSBK rings and gymnastics coach Ken H. getting his climb on in Rumney, NH

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. We’re running on a slightly modified schedule this weekend as we host a Barbell Medicine seminar at 597. Go to our Schedule page to see what’s happening.

2. Check out fresh photo sets from the Prospect Park potluck and Sunday’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class with Coach Callie! 

3. We are organizing teams for Flex on the Beach, which goes down Saturday, September 15th in Long Beach. Early Bird pricing ends August 26th, so now is the time to sign up. This is a co-ed competition for teams of 4 (2M/2F) with Rx, Scaled and Masters divisions. Just add your details here and we’ll try to get you on a team for this fun event!

4. SAVE THE DATE: We’re hosting a cornhole tournament on Friday, August 3rd at 6:30pm.

5. Missing a prized (or even not-so-prized) possession? It might be in our most recent lost and found dump! Be sure to claim your stuff at the front desk before we donate it to CHIPS in a few weeks.

6. Coach David tattooed his neck for this video, so now you have to watch it. It’s a cool tip that will make your Front Rack position a little more comfortable!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Clean and Jerk | Farmer Carry, Run
The Art of Chopping Wood The Players’ Tribune (video)
How to Watch the 2018 CrossFit Games BarBend

Clean and Jerk

Performance
Clean and Jerk 1RM

Warm up and build to a 1RM for the day. Press-outs are misses.

Fitness
Clean Deadlift + Hang Power Clean + Front Squat + Jerk

If you’re newer to the lift, then work up to a heavy load for the complex.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 8 of 8

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1 Round Not for time:
135m Single-Arm Farmer Carry (each arm)
800m Run

Carry a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell to 4th avenue in your weak side then carry it back on the other side. The goal is heavy but unbroken. Head off on the run as soon as you place the weight back.

Post work to comments.

Coach David tattooed his neck—they call that a “job stopper” in the business—for this video, so now you have to watch it. Here’s a cool tip that will make your Front Rack position a little more comfortable. Use it today!

CFSBK Vidz

We’ve dropped a ton of great videos full of fitness knowledge over the past year or so. Afraid you missed one? Here they are:

Erg Tips & Tricks
Single-Arm High Pulls & Kettlebell Swings
Basic Ring Support
How to Use the Stall Bar
GHD How To
Sandbag How To
Kettlebell Swing Tips
TheraBand How To
Squats and Balance
How to Warm Up a Lift
The Fridge
The Perfect Push-Up
Hand Care: Tension Grip vs. Compression Grip

What else do you think we should cover? Leave a comment below and we’ll try to cover it in a future video.

News and Notes

• Missing something? It might be in our most recent lost and found dump! Be sure to claim your stuff at the front desk before we donate it to CHIPS in a few weeks.
• We’re just 8 followers away from 6500 on Instagram. Give us a follow to help us get there, and hey, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, too! We post tons of the exclusive content you crave on both platforms.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Squat / Step-Up Test | NFT Work
Move It! You’re Old, You’re Not Dead Breaking Muscle
What I Learned from Mister Rogers Pacific Standard