The CrossFit gods will give you extra points tomorrow if you smile like Peter M.

• Happy birthday, Erin M.!
• ALL REGULAR CLASSES ARE CANCELED TOMORROW. The Floater WOD is in the comments below.
• If you still want to compete in FGB or can’t compete, email Info [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com ASAP!

Fitness: Clean Deadlift to Knee + Knee Power Clean + Front Squat (or Full Clean)
Work up to a heavy weight on the complex and perform 3-5 reps there. 

Performance: Clean 5 x 1
Hit 5 singles between 80% and 90% of your recent 1RM. If you’re feeling good then work at the 90% end, if you’re feeling off then work at the 80% end. Your work reps must be no lighter than 80% and no heavier than 90%. 

Post loads to comments.
e3/6
_____________________ 

3 Rounds for As Many Reps as Possible:
1 Minute Dumbbell Snatch (as heavy as possible, alternating arms)
1 Minute Burpees
1 Minute Rest

Post Rx and reps to comments.

Even if you’re not competing in Fight Gone Bad on Saturday, you should probably still come and hang out, because, well, this kind of stuff happens.

• Happy birthday, Rachel D.!
• WE’VE PASSED 66% OF OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL! (As of 10pm last night.) IF WE HIT $35,000, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BIG SURPRISE. JUMP ON IT!
• ICYMI: HEAT ASSIGNMENTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE! Team captains, please email your teams to keep them in the loop about when they need to be at the gym. The upstairs annex will be available all day for the two teams in the upcoming heat to warm-up.

CFSBK Leaderboards… Not Just on the White Board!

Front Desk wunderkind Ruth P. created a new tab for us on the blog, called CFSBK Leaderboards (located in the lower lefthand column under Member Resources). No longer must you row a 10K in order to review the top three men and women in each category. Now, you can stare at the Leaderboard while you couch stretch at your desk on your “lunch break” or foam roll in the privacy of your living room. Gosh, we’re good to you. Serious kudos and thanks to Ruth! 

_____________________ 
Fish Oil and Omega-3 Fats: How to be Safer With Your Supplements Precision Nutrition
Drinking Coffee, for Your Health The Atlantic
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey – Carl’s Wing
What’s Really In A Big Mac? McDonald’s Says It’s Ready To Tell All NPR

Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5 pounds to last week.

Performance: 5/3/1 1 week
75% x 5
85% x 3
95% x 1+

Percentages are based off your TRAINING MAX (90% of a recent 1RM). Aim to hit 3 plus on the rep out, but save 2 reps in the tank. 

Post loads to comments.
e3/6
_____________________ 

For Time:
500m Row
50 Push Ups
50 Box Jumps 24/20″
50 Pull Ups or Ring Rows
550m Run

Post time and Rx to comments.

Check out Matt U.’s video from Fight Gone Bad 2012. We’ve got 3 days left, CFSBK! How can you get weird and up your game in the next couple days?

Fight Gone Bad Fundraising Updates

• WE’VE PASSED 50% OF OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL, AND ARE ALMOST AT 60%! The best part? Since we hit $15,000, Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Board has been matching our contributions dollar-for-dollar. You or your friend puts in $10? The Board puts in $10, doubling your impact on Brooklyn’s communities. We’re so close! There will be another surprise when we hit $35,000, and we only have three days left!

• Also, HEAT ASSIGNMENTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE! Team captains, please email your teams to keep them in the loop about when they need to be at the gym. The upstairs annex will be available all day for the two teams in the upcoming heat to warm-up.

Congrats to those teams and individually topping our leaderboards on CrowdRise! Below are our top fundraisers from both the individual and team divisions (as of 5pm Tuesday 10/14):

Top Five Teams:

1. Wall Ball Me, Maybe $2,561
2. Swoldiersoffortune $2,345
3. Wodtoberfest $1,935
4. Menace to Swolbriety $1,740
5. ¿DÓNDE ESTÁN MIS PANTALONES? $1,555

Top Ten Individuals: 

1. Erik B. $1,170
2. Peter M. $950
3. Matt C. $870
4. Asta F. $795
5. Scott M. $730
6. Michael A. $724
7. Chris Y. $711
8. Richard G. $700
9. Asha B. $656
10. Michael R. $600

Send a last-minute email to your friends and family! Maybe something like this?

Dear ______ [insert name],

I know you probably think I’m bananas for doing CrossFit, but I love it so much–largely because my gym, CrossFit South Brooklyn, is so freaking awesome and doesn’t just care about getting “swole” (defined by the Urban Dictionary as the state of being very muscular and/or buff and in good shape), but we also care about helping our neighbors in Brooklyn.

That’s why I need your help! Through this fun competition we’re doing on Saturday, we’re raising money for a local organization called Brooklyn Community Foundation. BCF supports tons of great and important programs in Brooklyn.

Donate here, and I promise to send you a photo of me drenched in sweat after I crush this workout on Saturday. Also, I’ll love you forever!

XXOO _______ [your name] 

_____________________
In The Dust Of This Planet Radiolab
What Near-Death Experiences Can Teach Us About Consciousness Science of Us
How to Walk Like a Ninja The Art of Manliness
Dog Teamwork Retrieving a Ball 

Save the date, CFSBK! The Art Show is happening, and it’s going to be awesome.

• Your heat assignments for Fight Gone Bad will be sent out this evening! Get stoked!
• As of 6:30pm last night, we were at 53% of our fundraising goal for Brooklyn Community Foundation. Send those emails, we’ve got 47% left to go!

Another Excuse to Drink After a WOD: Introducing Threes Brewing, and Post Fight Gone Bad Fun

CFSBKers Alana U., Andrew, Justin, and Josh just opened Brooklyn’s Threes Brewing on 333 Douglass Street around the corner from CFSBK. They donated a keg of beer to our Fight Gone Bad celebration, and we’ll be heading there as a gym after the last heat on Saturday. 

Congratulations and welcome to the hood, guys! We hope to establish a long relationship of drinking and sweating together.

Also, Friday is Erin M.’s Dirty 30 and she wants you to celebrate with her later on Saturday!

When: Saturday night at 11pm
Where and What: Le Poisson Rouge’s Back to the Eighties Show with Jessie’s Girl 
Goal: To relive the decade in which she was born.

____________________
21 Jokes So Clever That You Probably Won’t Get Them Very Viral
Frozen Poop Pills Fight Life-Threatening Infections NPR
12 Habits of Healthy, Happy People Who Don’t Give A Sh*t About Your Inner Peace Yoganonymous
Tom Fruin’s Stained Glass House Installed at Brooklyn Bridge Park Colossal 

Fitness: Push Press 5 x 3 Linear Progression
Add 2-5 pounds to last week’s weight.

Performance: Rack Jerk 5 x 1
Hit 5 singles between 80% and 90% of your recent 1RM. If you’re feeling good then work at the 90% end, if you’re feeling off then work at the 80% end. Your work reps must be no lighter than 80% and no heavier than 90%. 

Post loads to comments.
e3/6
____________________

15-12-9-6-3, For Time:
Thrusters 95/65
Kettlebell Swings 53/35

Scale as necessary so that the sets can be done largely unbroken.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Congrats to TFBA and Front Desk wonder woman Danae M., who got her first muscle up on Friday!

• FGB heat assignments will be sent out Tuesday night. 
• We republished Coach Noah’s article over on Inside the Affiliate, for all the wide world of CrossFit to see: “Own the Weight: Moving Beyond PR-Dominated Thought in CrossFit.” Check it out, share it far and wide!

Fight Gone Bad Fundraising Updates

WE’RE ALMOST AT 50% OF OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL! The best part? Since we hit $15,000, Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Board has been matching our contributions dollar-for-dollar. You or your friend puts in $10? The Board puts in $10, doubling your impact on Brooklyn’s communities. We’re so close! There will be another surprise when we hit $35,000, and we only have five days left!

 Congrats to those teams and individually topping our leaderboards on CrowdRise! Below are our top fundraisers from both the individual and team divisions (as of 2pm Sunday 10/12):

Top Five Teams:

1. Wall Ball Me, Maybe
2. Swoldiersoffortune
3. Wodtoberfest
4. ¿DÓNDE ESTÁN MIS PANTALONES?
5. Menace to Swolbriety

Top Five Individuals: 

1. Erik B.
2. Peter M.
3. Scott M.
4. Chris Y.
5. Richard G.
6. Michael A.
7. Asha B.
8. Asta F.
9. Michael R.
10. Kate R.

It’s not too late to send an email to your friends and family! Rip off a version of this one below, and select, replace, or delete adjectives as you feel led. Ben W. used this email (with almost all of the adjectives) and quickly raised over $500. Jump on it!

Dear/Salutations/Greetings/Hola/Aloha/Beloved [insert name], 

As you probably know, I’m really into CrossFit. It’s helped me/I love it because _______. Every year at my gym, CrossFit South Brooklyn, we have an event called Fight Gone Bad, where we do this crazy/hard/weird/incredible/soul-crushing/soul-enhancing workout (which you can see here). 

What makes the event even more cool/inspiring/sweet/meaningful is that it’s not just a competition for highest reps, but also a competition to raise money for a local organization called Brooklyn Community Foundation. BCF supports a variety of artistic, agricultural, environmental, social, and educational programs in Brooklyn, helping people of all ages. 

So, why am I telling you all of this? Because I need your help! [Insert any crazy story or incentives for hitting certain fundraising markers, i.e., If you donate $XX, I will do X, Y, and/or Z.] Donate here [insert link to your page]! 

I will be sure to let you know how the event goes, and probably send along a sweaty/hot/sexy/revolting photo of myself post-workout.

Sincerely/With love/Gratefully/Be well/Shalom,
[Your name]

AND REMEMBER TO SAY THANK YOU WHEN PEOPLE DONATE! It’s the right thing to do. 

You’ve got five days left! Let’s do this!

____________________ 
What I Saw as an N.F.L. Ball Boy New York Times
How Wolves Change Rivers The Meta Picture
How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy The Atlantic
Overhead Wrist Position with Chad Vaughn CrossFit

Did you learn something new this weekend? (From our alternate programming… or anything, really.)

Don’t worry, it’s not just you; the ergs are lonely, too. They can’t wait to see you when CFSBK opens again tomorrow morning!

• ALL CLASSES ARE CANCELED TODAY. We will reopen Monday morning (10/13).
• Happy birthday, Joy M.!

Alternate Programming Today

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here! 

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Due to the weather yesterday, the Running Clinic is today. Get some running education and a great track workout!

Endurance Coach Mike O.’s Running Clinic
What: 2-Hour Running and Endurance Clinic
When: Sunday, Oct 12th from 12pm-2pm
Where: Red Hook Track
Cost: $12
Sign up here! 

Roller Skating with CFSBK!
What: All-ages roller-skating, admission for the first 25 people that RSVP is compliments of CFSBK
When: Sunday, October 12, 2-4pm 
Where: the newly-opened Pier 2 Roller Rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park
RSVP to mare [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Sunday, October 12, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
Sign up here!

End the day with Stella Z.’s free pub quiz at 68 Jay St Bar, where Charlie tends bar:
Where: Sunday, October 12,7 PM,
Where: Smart in DUMBO, 68 Jay St Bar

_____________________ 
The Benefits of Living Alone on a Mountain The Atlantic
Family Meals May Mean a Healthier Weight New York Times
A Trick That Will Make Your Next Apology Better Science of Us

CFSBK is closed today as we host Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Level 2 Seminar this weekend. Learn more about Starting Strength here. CFSBK will reopen Monday morning (10/13).

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COACH JESS FOX!!

Saturday Alternative Programming

We are hosting Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar again and all normal in-house group classes are canceled. As an alternative, we’re offering off-location workouts. Below are the programming options available for today:

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here!

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Endurance Coach Mike O.’s Running Clinic
What: 2-Hour Running and Endurance Clinic
When: Saturday, Oct 11th from 9am – 11am
Where: Red Hook Track
Cost: $12
Sign up here! 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Saturday, October 11, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
(SOLD OUT) 

_________________
Nobody Knows What Running Looks Like The Atlantic
How Exercise Can Boost Young Brains New York Times
The Science of ‘You Like Me! You Really Like Me!’ Science of Us

Ever have more questions? Don’t hesitate to ask as our coaches are happy to help clarify anything related to programming. Chances are someone else might be thinking the same thing!

• Happy birthday, Becca W. and Mrav!
• CONGRATS TO DAVE AND AILEEN! THEY’RE GETTING HITCHED AT CITY HALL TODAY!
• Fight Gone Bad is only 8 days away! Send another fundraising email, get weird/creative/awesome!

We are hosting Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar again and the gym will be mostly closed tonight through Sunday night. As an alternative, we’re offering all sorts of fun activities…

Saturday Activities:

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here!

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Endurance Coach Mike O.’s Running Clinic
What: 2-Hour Running and Endurance Clinic
When: Saturday, Oct 11th from 9am – 11am
Where: Red Hook Track
Cost: $12
Sign up here! 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Saturday, October 11, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
TWO SPACES OPENED UP! Email Mare [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com if you’re interested! 

Sunday Activities: 

Coach Noah’s Beginning Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 11am
Register here! 

Coach Noah’s Intermediate Kipping Pull-up Workshop at 12pm
Register here! 

Roller Skating with CFSBK!
What: All-ages roller-skating, admission for the first 25 people that RSVP is compliments of CFSBK
When: Sunday, October 12, 2-4pm 
Where: the newly-opened Pier 2 Roller Rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park
RSVP to mare [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com 

Brooklyn Boulders Field Trip
When: Sunday, October 12, 4pm
Cost: $30, includes day pass and gear rental for the day of the class (a $36 value)
Sign up here!

End the day with Stella Z.’s free pub quiz at 68 Jay St Bar, where Charlie tends bar:
Where: Sunday, October 12,7 PM,
Where: Smart in DUMBO, 68 Jay St Bar

_____________________ 
Kit Laughlin’s Stretching Videos
Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt Momastery
7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose Mark Manson
A Love Letter to America’s Wilderness The Atlantic

Fitness: Clean Deadlift to Knee + Knee Power Clean + Front Squat (or Full Clean)
Work up to a heavy weight on the complex and perform 3-5 reps there. 

Performance: Clean 5 x 1
Hit 5 singles between 80% and 90% of your recent 1RM. If you’re feeling good then work at the 90% end, if you’re feeling off then work at the 80% end. Your work reps must be no lighter than 80% and no heavier than 90%. 

Post loads to comments.
e2/6
_____________________ 

Every Minute on the Minute for 16 Minutes:
Even: 12 Wall Balls 20/14, 14/9
Odd: 20, 30, or 40 Double Unders

Post Rx and how it went to comments.

Bree with complete hip and knee extension at the top of her kettlebell swing. At this point in the swing, the kettlebell should feel “weightless,” as if it would float up if you let go of the handle. If this isn’t happening for you, ask a coach how to fix it!

News and Notes

• Happy birthday, Murat A.!
• Membership Policies: Please remember that your weekly class tally STARTS on Monday, so plan your schedule accordingly. So, if for instance you are on a 3x/week membership, you can’t come Monday/Wednesday/Friday and then attend Open Gym on Sunday night as part of the upcoming week. You would have to pay a drop-in fee for the additional class. Classes missed the previous week can be banked, but you cannot use up your weekly classes in advance of the designated week. Please review our Membership Policies for more information.

_____________________ 
The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills New York Times
Get Cozy Down There Catalyst Athletics
The Take a Nap Wheel
The 1970s Pamphlet Aimed At Keeping Tourists Out Of NYC Gothamist 

Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5 pounds to last week.

Performance: 5/3/1 3 week
70% x 3
80% x 3
90% x 3+

Percentages are based off your TRAINING MAX (90% of a recent 1RM). Aim to hit 6 plus on the rep out, but save 2 reps in the tank. 

Post loads to comments.
e2/6
_____________________ 

Fitness
10 Rounds for Time:
3 Deadlifts 225/155
3 Dumbbell Hang Cleans + Push Presses (Rx 45%xBW) 

Performance
5 Rounds for Time:
5 Power Snatches 135/95
3 Muscle Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Michael A. getting up on the box. Fight Gone Bad is 10 days away! Are you ready?

News and Notes

• The gym will be closed this weekend after the noon class on Friday, reopening Monday morning. Check out all the alternative offerings we’re hosting in the Events column to the right!
• Congrats again to all our FGB fundraisers! As of 11:46pm last night, we were 39% closer to our goal. How fast can we get to 50%?? (Also, team Wodtoberfest is back in first and Erik B. is holding onto his lead!)

Own the Weight: Moving Beyond PR-Dominated Thought

By Noah Abbott

A world-record mile. A half court shot to win a million bucks. A hit single that rules the airwaves for a month or two. Society has become more and more obsessed with the rare and extraordinary, celebrating and venerating the “once-in-a-lifetime” moment over the slow and steady grind of dogged hard work and incremental progress. Seen through this lens, greatness becomes a montage of single-frame snapshots instead of long form cinema verite. 

CrossFitters are not immune to this type of thinking. We celebrate PR’ed lifts and WODs, then cling to the numbers as though they are immutable testaments to our continued performance. This partially attributable to CrossFit’s complicated balance between training and sport.Singular numbers matter during competition, as they may be the difference between a win and a loss. They matter psychologically, as the tangible and obvious payoff from long hours of toil and sacrifice. However, confusing PRs with overall fitness, or becoming too reliant or attached to them, is folly. Consider this statement:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
—Aristotle

Aristotle was the philosopher’s equivalent of a CrossFit athlete, writing authoritatively on physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, and government. His generalist approach is echoed in that statement: true excellence is the sum total of constantly and consistently repeated action, not a one-time outlier. 

Let this inform your training and factor it into how you plan lifts and cycles and approach workouts. While a big snatch PR is certainly cause for celebration (doubly so and especially during competition) it is not the most important or descriptive indicator of your lifting prowess or overall fitness. What can you snatch reliably, every time? What can you snatch when you’re tired, sore, or haven’t eaten enough? What can you snatch after a 400m run, or before jumping on the bar for a set of pull-ups? What number would you guarantee you can snatch with your life savings on the line?

This thinking applies to Benchmark WODs as well. I know I’m personally guilty of clinging to certain WOD PRs that I haven’t retested in over a year, even bragging (or worse,humblebragging) about them a bit. While this behavior is somewhat natural and human, it also kind of sucks. What good is my “Fran” time from a year ago, under perfect conditions, with a friend supplying motivation and helping me stick to a strategy? Shouldn’t I be as proud of a “Fran” done 30 seconds slower, alone, with no music? 

I submit that we should focus less on our PRs, and more on numbers we “own.” To operationally define “own,” I mean a weight, time, or score that we can hit 9 times out of 10. I know a CFSBK member who has recorded the exact same “Annie” time three times in a row (and it’s a good one!). He can confidently say that he owns his “Annie” time. Likewise, if you’ve squatted your PR multiple times over a fairly broad time spectrum, you own that weight. Let’s focus on what we consistently own, not what we grasp for a fleeting moment. This is especially important when we use 1RM numbers as the basis for planning a cycle of lifts—don’t use your squat 1RM from when you were a college linebacker if you’re currently a 45-year-old computer programmer. 

This type of thinking is psychologically helpful in two ways. First, it is directly relatable to the way we should be training—valuing steady, long-term, and (relatively) permanent progress over quickly achieved and discarded goals. Second, it allows us to simultaneously take it easy on ourselves (for not always PRing) AND understand that consistency in training is the goal. 

Recently I did a training cycle on my own that had one day each week labeled “SNATCH/CLEAN AND JERK 1RM.” While initially exciting, I quickly began to dread 1RM day, feeling that any day I didn’t PR was a disappointment and indicative that my training wasn’t working. I was explaining this feeling to a veteran Olympic lifter, who told me to take it easy on myself.  “As long as you can consistently hit 90% of your 1RM, you’re fine,” he said. I did the math, and realized my 90% number was eminently achievable. In fact, I owned it. I’d hit it a million times. The rest of the cycle went smoothly—I didn’t PR, and didn’t care, because I got better overall. (The Olympic lifter recently qualified for the American Open, so it seems like it’s working for him too.) 

In sum, try and recommit to enjoying not only the successes and bright moments during your training career, but the training itself. Savor the small sacrifices, the little breakthroughs, and the slow build towards mastery and consistency. PRs are the zenith of a pyramid, built on the wide and strong base of training data that is consistent (and trending upward) over time and circumstance. 

Go forth and own it.

_____________________ 
The Benefits to Foam Rolling CrossFit Invictus
Why You Hate the Sound of Your Own Voice Slate
IT band cont | Feat. Kelly Starrett MobilityWOD
Your CrossFit Friends CollegeHumor