Have you met Coach JB yet? Check out our interview with her!

Last Chance to Paddleboard with CFSBK

Where:  On the Hudson River, launching from Croton Point Park in Westchester County  
When:  2-4pm, Saturday, Aug 16
Cost:  $99 per person, cost drops to $89 per person with 6+ participants
Sign-up: Email Mare at mare@crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com TODAY! It’s your last chance!
More information: Check out our event page!

Write a Haiku

Today’s Rest Day WOD is to write a CrossFit Haiku—now an annual CFSBK tradition! Nothing like a fun little project to get the creative juices flowing. What’s a haiku, you might ask? A haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry characterized by three simple lines. The first line contains five syllables, the second contains seven, and the last again contains five. Think about the images, emotions, and experiences you have at the gym and see if you can’t write your own. Below are three examples courtesy of Mobility WOD:

Psoas unfolding
Like the lotus blossom
I just vomited

Way of the painball
There are no days off
Leopard is supple

My leg is aflame
A sliding tunnel of meat
I shall punish thee

Post your CrossFit Haiku to comments.
Compare to 6.12.2012 and 7.28.2011

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NJ Bears Wandering Around Upright Like They’re Cartoon Characters Gothamist
Growth Happens At Our Limits: Embrace it. Nerd Fitness
Is Your Relationship Making You Fat? US News & World Report
8 Life Lessons I Learned From My Near-Death Experience MindBodyGreen

Fitness: 2 Behind-the-Neck Snatch Push Press + 2 Overhead Squats
Work up to a moderate load on the complex.

Performance: Snatch Balance
Work up to a moderate 3 Rep Snatch Balance.

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5 Rounds Not for Time:
5 Hang Muscle Snatch 
5 OH Reverse Lunges, Left
5 OH Reverse Lunges, Right
130m Run

Post loads to comments.

Eight dogs (and their owners!) were trained last Saturday at CFSBK

• Happy birthday, Sidney M.! 

We Will Miss You, Miranda B.! 

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Stress and Cravings: Why Changing Your Food Isn’t Enough Paleof(x)
The 1 Question to Ask to Identify a Narcissist Science of Us
You Asked: Why Are People Addicted to CrossFit and Other Brutal Workouts? TIME
About This Feud Between O-Lifting and CrossFit Performance Menu

Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Start below your last exposure to leave room to grow. 

Performance: 1 x 20
Start at about 55% of your 1 Rep Max.

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In 12 minutes:
5 Wall Ball 20/10, 14/9
5 Knees to Elbows
10 Wall Ball
10 Knees to Elbows
15 Wall Ball
15 Knees to Elbows
20 Wall Ball
20 Knees to Elbows
25 Wall Ball
25 Knees to Elbows
etc…
If you can’t perform K2E as Rx’d then sub V-Ups.

Post loads and rounds to comments.

Coach Jeremy with KR. 

News and Notes

• The Meat/Fish/Veg/Flower/Egg CSA pickup is TODAY, from 6-8:30 PM. Eggs will also be for sale, $6/dozen. Please bring small bills for the eggs and your own bags to carry your goodies home. Questions or issues? Email Michele at mignyc [at] gmail.com. Want to sign up for any of our CSA programs? See this page.
• Zach H. wants you to know about another competition happening September 13-14, called the Pump Games. It’s a two-day event in New Jersey and Zach and a few others are already signed up. The price bumps up tomorrow, so check it out today! If you want to coordinate with him, email him at z.hodge [at] live.com.

Subway Series is Back On This Sunday

We’re looking for a few more CFSBK members to join one of our 3-person open teams at the second Subway Series competition this Sunday, August 10th at Crossfit Queens. The workout has been named “Grannie Gone Mad” and is a variant of the benchmark Crossfit “Girls” workouts, Grace and Annie.  

The full workout details and movement standards have been released here: Subway Series Event #2: Open Team WOD. The event will begin at 8:30am and is expected to run until 12pm. Registration is $99 per team, or $33 per person. 

Registration for the event closes at noon on Thursday, so if you are interested in competing, please email Coach MeLo ASAP: Melissa [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com

Get on the Water This Summer with CFSBK

What: Stand-up paddleboard lesson and tour
Where:  On the Hudson River, launching from Croton Point Park in Westchester County  
When:  2-4pm, Saturday, Aug 16
$99 per person, cost drops to $89 per person with 6+ participants
Sign-up: email Mare at mare@crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com by Friday, August 8

This two-hour lesson and guided tour is geared toward first-timers and beginners starting in a protected bay area so that everyone has an opportunity to get their “sea legs.” After folks are feeling comfortable on their boards, we head out for paddle.

For more information, head to our event page!

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Why I Kicked an Athlete Out Of My Box Alyssa Royse
How Foam Rolling Relieves the Pain of Working a Desk Breaking Muscle
What Makes Us Fat: Is It Eating Too Much Or Moving Too Little? NPR
Russell Berger and Mark Rippetoe Respond to ESPN about CrossFit Outside the Lines 

Jen focused in her front-rack position

A Letter to New CrossFitters: Good Training Habits 

The original version of this article appeared on David’s blog, Inside the Affiliate. 

Below is a short article we ask all our new members to read when they graduate from our Foundations program. At CFSBK, we believe it’s important to guide our members’ training perspectives early on. The sooner we can get folks thinking about how to make proactive, intelligent training decisions, the more likely they’ll optimize their time under our roof.

While it’s our responsibility as coaches to teach movement, program wisely, and generally take care of folks, it’s your job as an athlete to listen to your body, track your workouts, and maintain a mature perspective about why you’re doing CrossFit in the first place. For some athletes, this may be completely intuitive, but most folks walking through our doors will need to be taught even the most basic components of serious physical training. Many people pursue CrossFit because they want to lose some weight or a friend does it and it sounds fun—not necessarily because they’ve suddenly decided to eat, sleep, and breath CrossFit. (The obsession part happens organically, after they’ve been exposed to its benefits.)

With that in mind, the commercial fitness industry’s claims of quick fixes and supposed “secrets” to success may have influenced peoples’ perspectives and expectations when they arrive at our gym, and it behooves us to disabuse them of such false messaging. Messages such as the one below are part of a larger dialogue that CFSBK is constantly facilitating, with the aim of giving our members the most accurate and honest advice about what it takes to adopt a healthy lifestyle. 

Hopefully, all of you have already read this article. But a good refresher never hurt anyone…

Good Training Habits

While it’s our responsibility as coaches to teach you movement, program intelligently, and keep you safe, it’s your responsibility as athletes to develop good training habits. Here is an overview of three great habits that will significantly enrich your training experience.

1. Be Proactive With Your Movement Prep
Everyone needs to do a little personalized maintenance on their bodies. Even 10 minutes of DIY movement prep before class can go a long way in keeping you fit and pain free. After you’ve signed in and changed, take advantage of the time you’ve got and start moving. 

Warm-up
Row an easy 300-500m on the erg. Get your heart rate up a little and try to get a light sweat going. We recommend holding 20 strokes per minute and rehearsing good form. 

Stretch/Foam Roll
Many of us know where our tightest areas are—they’re the ones that make it difficult to squat below parallel or press a barbell overhead. Spend a few minutes mobilizing and doing some soft tissue work (foam roller/LAX ball, etc.) on your “problem areas.” If you don’t know where to begin, ask a coach what you should be prioritizing and we’ll help you out. We also regularly refer our members to out Active Recovery classes and MobilityWOD.com. This is great resource for folks who need simple, effective strategies to help them move better. 

2. Log All of Your Workouts
Training without logging is like driving without a road map. You don’t know where you’ve been or where you’re going. Taking notes on each training session helps you track your progress and helps us make informed decisions about how to assist you in choosing weights and scaling movements. Each day should list some quantitative and qualitative notes about your training session. Here is an example:

Warm-Up:
3 rounds NFT
5 Snatch PP (22lb bar)
5 OHS
5 Muscle Snatches
10 Push-ups on knees 

Move up to yellow bar

AMRAP 15 minutes:
Row 350m
12 Overhead Squats, 45lbs
4 Rounds + 320m 

Kept rows at about 2:23 splits, felt hard but doable. Don’t shift forward during overhead squats…. Mid foot!

You can track your workouts in a journal or online. As coaches, we LOVE to read the details of your workout in the Comments section of CFSBK’s blog. It gives us a deeper perspective into your training and the programming in general. 

3. Start Slow and Maintain Perspective
We take our training seriously at CrossFit South Brooklyn and with that comes with a good deal of responsibility. Our movement pool uses serious strength and conditioning exercises in order to develop broad, inclusive fitness. If we don’t treat these movements and workouts with respect, training plateaus and injuries are sure to follow. The best way to ensure your success and training longevity with us is by starting slowly and developing a rock-solid technical base. In fact, the first few months you start CrossFit, intensity should not be a significant concern. The movements are potent enough that just consistently performing them will create a favorable adaptation. After you feel really comfortable with most of our exercises and have a working knowledge of your weights, only then should you start ramping up the intensity. 

Training with a lifelong perspective is incredibly important. Remember that you’re here to build yourself up, not break yourself down. Scaling workouts properly, listening to your body and checking your ego at the door will allow you to work out successfully for years to come. Most importantly, have fun with this stuff and enjoy the process.

Coach Fox wrote an article a few weeks ago that expands on many of these themes, called “Tips on How to be Prepared and Get the Most Out of Group Classes.” Check it out!

• This is the second day of the first week of our new cycle. If you want to see what else is on tap, check out the Current Programming Cycle link in the left sidebar. 

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For the Love of CrossFit: Everyone’s All in It Together at the Games Sports Illustrated
Coach Greg Glassman “Simplifies” the Deadlift Hella Life
Paleo Post-Workout Nutrition Stupid Easy Paleo
Artist Turns Breast Cancer Into Cause for Humorous, Boob–Themed Art Show The Cut

Training Cycle Template

Training Cycle Dates: M 8/4 – Su 9/14
Crush Week: M 9/15 – Su 9/21
Back Off/Transition Week: M 9/22 – Su 9/28 

Monday: Press Variant (Press/Push Press/Bench Press) + WOD/NFT 

Wednesday: Back Squat + WOD/NFT 

Thursday: Snatch Variant + WOD/NFT 

Saturday: Back Squat + WOD/NFT 

Sunday: Clean and Jerk Variant + WOD/NFT 

This cycle will be slightly less linear than the previous one. It will not include two-lift days, and will include more conditioning and Not-for-Time (NFT) assistance work. Performance will be alternating between a volume day (20 reps) and an intensity day (percentage-based singles) on the squat.

Competitions/Events:

Subway Series | Long Island City: August 3 
Subway Series | CrossFit Queens: August 10
Subway Series | CrossFit Virtuosity: August 17
Subway Series | CrossFit South Brooklyn: August 24

Work up to a heavy 5 rep on the bench press.
Use spotters. No failing. 

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EMOM 15 Minutes:
1) 25 Kettlebell Swings 53/35
2) 15 Burpees to a 45# bumper
3) Rest
On the start of the first minute, perform 25 kettlebell swings, then rest until the second minute. At the start of the second minute, perform 15 burpees, then rest through the third minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles. 

Post loads to comments.

Our fearless Subway Series competitors yesterday at CrossFit Long Island City!

News and Notes

• CONGRATS to everyone who competed this weekend, from our Subway Series badasses, to our gentlemen in the USAPL New Jersey State Powerlifting Championship, to Pavel M. who PR-ed his NYC Triathalon time from last year by 22 minutes, in large part due to Michael O.‘s Endurance Program. 
• There’s a new bundle of Lost and Found belongings, including some interestingly-shaded towels and an Elizabethan dog collar. Could today be your lucky day? Click on Photo 1 and Photo 2 to find out! 
• Men’s Fitness interviewed our very own Samir C. about his CrossFit experience. Check it out: CrossFit Confessions: “I reject the militaristic aspects of CrossFit.”
• Happy birthday, David G.!

Wanna Flex on the Beach?

So You Like Watching Soccer… What About Playing?

Coach Noah is organizing a crew of CFSBKers to play in another late summer/fall soccer league. There will be a fun kick-around session this Saturday (8/9) at 3pm to get a sense of interest level and discuss potential leagues to join. Email Noah [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com for more details if you’re interested. 

In case you missed it, THIS happened last year when CFSBK’s soccer team, the Fighting Tacos, banded together. They didn’t have a great record (think 0-8-1), but perhaps you will be the force that changes that and elevates them to something approaching Germany’s status. 

QOD: What’s on your bucket list for the remaining weeks of summer?

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Why Would Anyone Want to Work Out Until They Puke? The Atlantic
Stop Failing Lifts CrossFit Invictus 
The CrossFit Case for Equal Pay The Huffington Post
What Do You See When You Look in the Mirror? The Atlantic

Hang Clean + Jerk: 1-1-1
Work up to a few singles of a moderately heavy (<90%) hang clean (from the knee) + jerk  (1+1)

18 Minutes Not for Rounds:
400m Run or Row
2 Clean and Jerks at 100% of today’s weight on the complex

Post loads to comments.

Madhu the Man Beast, cleaning like a boss

Let the 2014 Subway Series Begin! 

Another year has gone by, and it’s time once again for an NYC affiliate throwdown: the 2014 Subway Series! The four-part event kicks off TODAY at 9:00am at Crossfit Long Island City. All are invited to spectate, so come cheer on your fellow South Brooklynites as they compete against 12 other local gyms.

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Taking on the CrossFit Games: Sneak Peek ABCNews
In Defense of the Kipping Pull Up Breaking Muscle
Why We Unfriend The Atlantic

EMOM 8 Minutes:
2 Deadlifts, not touch and go
Use 80% of your 1 Rep Max.

Post loads to comments.

#sbkgoeswest to SolCity CrossFit

Dog Training Today at 2:15pm

If you signed up, remember to come train your dog today at 2:15pm with Anthony Newman of Calm Energy Dog Training. Newman was New York magazine’s pick for Best Dog Trainer of 2013, and he’s visiting CFSBK to train CFSBK’s beloved dogs!

Competitions to Follow This Weekend

• Uzef, Paul J., and Rob I. are all competing today at the 31st Annual USAPL New Jersey State Powerlifting Championship in New Brunswick.
• Good luck to all the CFSBKers who are competing in the first round of the 2014 Subway Series tomorrow at CrossFit Long Island City.
• Pavel M. is competing in the NYC Triathalon tomorrow! His number is 4422; click here if you’d like to track his progress! 

Get after it and make us proud, everyone!

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The Great Hamstring Saver New York Times
How to Master CrossFit Double Unders Daily Burn

Alex C., and the hook grip in action

YOU SHALL NOT SNATCH, or, Thoughts on the Absolute Necessity of the Hook Grip 

By Noah Abbott 

Lately my coaching comrades and I have been noticing a strange phenomenon. Normally conscientious and dedicated Crossfit padawans, attempting the two toughest things we do at the gym—the snatch and clean, without the use of a hook grip. While we talk about the hook grip in Foundations, I think it may be prudent to inject a bit more philosophical and theoretical gravity into its use, to ensure that it is used every single time you Olympic lift, until you are so comfortable with it that you will feel weird doing anything else. 

What is the hook grip and why do we use it? It is simply a method of gripping a barbell, or anything of roughly barbell diameter. To secure your hook grip, follow these steps: 

1. Open your hands as wide as possible and push the bar deep into your palm.
2. Wrap your thumb around the bar as far as you can.
3. Tightly grab your thumb with your index and middle fingers and pull it further around the bar, while your
ring and pinky fingers hold onto the barbell.
4. ?????
5. PR 

The hook grip is as old as time immemorial. American weightlifting legend Tommy Kono says that when he started lifting (roughly 1945 or so) he used the hook grip, which he had seen in a book. That legacy has continued, and EVERY SINGLE competitive Olympic lifter in the world, universe, and likely in uncharted galaxies uses the hook grip. So you should too. Need more proof than every gold medal won at every Olympics, ever? Ok, fine, here goes: 

1. The hook grip is strong as hell. You are basically turning your hand into an Organic Lifting Strap (extra hipster cred for sustainability!). Want a test? Go hang from a barbell with a normal grip, then try using a hook grip—which do you want to bet lets you hang longer. In fact, you will probably quit from thumb discomfort before your hook grip actually fails. This is a test, so please don’t actually use a hook grip to do pull-ups, unless it’s to win a bet. 

2. The hook grip allows you to accelerate the barbell with loose arms. Since the grip is “passive”—the bar is held by the friction caused from the weight of the barbell clamping your thumb into your fingers—you can secure a rock solid grip on the bar without contracting the muscles in your forearms. Loose arms translate to better pulls. Ever have a coach correct your early arm pull or tell you to “whip your elbows faster?” You can’t do either of those without a hook grip. 

3. The hook grip allows for proper rack delivery in the clean. This dovetails off the last point, but the passive and relaxed nature of the grip makes it easier to open your hands and deliver the bar to your shoulders with high elbows.  People who don’t hook grip and squeeze the hell out of the bar end up with their hands glued fully around the bar, a bad rack position, and subsequently FAILZ.

Ok, so I’ve convinced you, right? Well, we still get lots of complaints about the hook grip, and since this ol Crossfit thing is a customer service business, we endeavor to satisfy your complaints, or at least confuse you enough that you drop the subject. Common gripes generally fall into two categories: 

1. My hands are too small! No, they are not. Likely, you haven’t really shoved the bar deep enough into your palm, or gripped it tightly enough with your fingers. Halil Mutlu won three consecutive Olympic Golds, standing 4’11” tall and beginning his career at 56KG (118 lbs), before beefing up to a scale shattering 62KG (136 lbs.) Dude was little, and his hands were tiny, and he hook gripped like a boss. Further, at the gym we have a range of barbells (33, 25, and 15#, or yellow, green, and white tape), which are smaller in diameter than the 20KG/45# bars. That said, they are generally 25mm diameter vs the normal 28mm, so they aren’t exactly toothpicks. Unless you are literally a baby—not a wimp, but an actual infant—your hands are just fine. 

2. It hurts! Well, life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something. Seriously, the wisdom of Wesley/T.D.P.R. aside, discomfort caused by the hook grip is temporary, and generally lessens with familiarity. Simply using the hook grip all the time will make the discomfort vanish, replaced by the sweet caress of PRs and resultant glory. 

If you really feel tight and restricted, Greg Everett of Catalyst Athletics suggests you implement this stretch: Make a fist with your thumb tucked tightly inside and ulnar deviate your hand; that is, tilt your hand away from the thumb side. You should feel a stretch around the base of your thumb and probably a little up into your wrist as well. You can also flex the wrist from this position to get an additional and somewhat different stretch. So do that. If you want to be a real badass/masochist, deadlift with a hook grip—cleans and snatches will seem like a manicure after that.  

Lastly, you can tape your thumbs before you lift, which should reduce some of the discomfort. Here’s Rich Froning talking in GREAT DETAIL about how to wrap tape around your thumb, which doesn’t seem too complicated to me, but then again, he’s the champ, and I write things on the CFSBK blog. Some people differ on their approach to taping your thumbs. The aforementioned Greg Everett, for example, says you should NOT tape over the joint, and instead tear a strip of athletic tape in half (after you’ve ripped it free from the roll, do not give Coach Fox an aneurism) and tape north and south of your thumb joint. This will allow your thumb to move a bit more freely than if it is taped like a big burrito, which Everett claims can lead to discomfort, or even a broken thumb. (I am highly skeptical of the broken thumb claim, but again, I have about 1% of 1% of his experience, or less.)

So, as per normal, I’ve covered a simple topic in exhaustive, pedantic, teeth gnashing depth. Not much left to be said, except for this: You know who wished he used the hook grip? This guy. 

News and Notes

• Happy birthday, Mark C.!
• Uzef, Paul J., and Rob I. are all competing tomorrow at the 31st Annual USAPL New Jersey State Powerlifting Championship in New Brunswick. GOOD LUCK, STRONG MEN! 

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In Defense of Times Square VICE
The State of the American Dog Esquire
The Privilege of Movement Ben Bruno

Overhead Squat: 5-5-5
Work up to a heavy set of 5 on the overhead squat.

“Annie”

50-40-30-20-10 Reps for Time of:
Double Unders
Sit Ups

Compare to 2.11.13.
Post loads and time to comments.

Zach and Joe warming up their snatch 

Ending Street Harassment: Thoughts from Janelle B.

Our latest Athlete of the Month, Janelle B., posted an article on her blog on Tuesday called “Smile, Beautiful”: My Own Story of Street Harassment and Why I Refuse to Smile. It’s an important piece about street harassment, and in it, she talks about the positive role CFSBK’s community played in an experience she had recently. Check it out, and share it with any friends that have wrestled with similar issues. 

Hiring Front Desk Staff 

CFSBK is looking for new talent to staff the front desk. Responsibilities include handling inquires from walk-ins, managing basic membership issues, light cleaning/organization, and other miscellaneous duties. Ideally, we’d like to hire from within so that candidates are already familiar with CrossFit and CFSBK, but we are open to talk to new folks if they’ve got good people skills and are committed to joining the gym. On top of an hourly wage, FD staff will also receive a comped membership. We are looking for people who can devote at least 2-4 days of their week to FD and can commit to 6 months of work with us barring extenuating circumstances. 

We will be interviewing in early August, training in mid- to late August, and you will begin working in September. The shifts we are looking to fill are below, so before applying, please make sure these openings fit with your schedule. 

AM: 5:45am-9:15am (Monday-Friday)
Late AM/afternoon: 9:45am-1:15pm (Monday-Friday)
PM: 4:15pm-9:45pm (Monday-Thursday)
OG: 5:15pm-8:15pm on Fridays, 5:45pm-8:15pm on Sundays
Weekends: 7:45-11am or 11am-2:30pm on Saturdays; 7:45am-12pm or 12pm-3:30pm on Sundays 

Email info [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com to inquire and include Front Desk in the subject line.

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Stone Soup: How the Paleolithic life style got trendy The New Yorker
Spinning From Both Wrists in the Double-Under with Matt Lodin CrossFit
Running 5 Minutes a Day Has Long-Lasting Benefits New York Times
Volleyball Player Sabina Altynbekova’s Beauty is Called “Too Distracting” The Star