Deadlift: 1-1-1-1-1
Attempt to set a new 1 Rep Max.

Post loads to comments.
_________________ 

Partner WOD
In teams of 2, alternate rounds to complete 3 rounds each of the triplet:
300m Row or 270m Run
20 Box Jump 24/20
10 Overhead Squat 135/95

Post time and Rx to comments.

Chris A. cleaning like a boss 

• Good luck to CFSBK’s Weightlifting Coach Frankie Murray who is competing in the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Salt Lake City today. Check out the live stream here. Coach Frankie will be lifting around 5pm EST.

Strength Total Today at 2pm

Fitness: Snatch
Work up to a heavy snatch for the day. If you a hard time with the first pull, then perform the snatch from the hang.

Performance: Snatch 
Work up to a heavy snatch for the day.
_________________ 

Back Squat 

Fitness: 3-3-3-3-3
Establish a 3 Rep Max. Start your first attempt at or near your last 3×5 weight.

Performance: 1RM Test
Warm up to 80% for a single then: 
90%x1 
95%x1 
100%x1 (this would in fact be a new 1RM) 
105%x1 
105% + if still moving 
Remember to use the same theoretical max you’ve been using all cycle. 

Post loads to comments.
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Come watch our fabulous Strength Cycle ladies with Coach Jeremy tomorrow!

Community Announcements

• Congrats to our beloved Cruise Director Mare L. on getting MARRIED last night! 
• Tomorrow is our favorite masseuse’s last day in Brooklyn. Inka H. is moving to Maine and we will miss her dearly!
• Congrats to Serene, who squatted 315# on Thursday and moved to first place on the women’s leaderboard. Check it out here!

Bend, Stretch, Mobilize, and Stand on Your Hands

• Yoga for Athletes with Coach Whitney at 10am.
• Active Recovery at 11am and 12pm with Coach David.
• If you signed up for Ken H.’s handstand class, remember that you’re meeting today from 2-3:30pm!

Strength Total Tomorrow at 2pm

 

Watch Kacy Catanzaro absolutely crush the “American Ninja Warrior” obstacle course

• Happy birthday, Tedra M.!

Warm-Up Strategies For Developing Kipping Pull-Ups

By David Osorio 
Originally posted on 11.4.2011 

Below is a plan to start incorporating regular kipping pull-up skill work into your warm-ups. Like any other skill, you’ll need regular practice to develop mastery of the movement. That being said, don’t go overboard with this—I wouldn’t be swinging on the bar more than four times per week. The progression below is broken into three steps based on your skill level. Don’t advance to the next step until you’ve mastered the previous one. This may take several weeks so be patient!

Level 1, The Kip Swing: Add 5-8 Kip Swings before each set of pull-ups during warm ups, or add 1-2 sets of kip swings when you finish warming up. Progress to Level 2 after you can consistently string these together with a nice “pop” on the back end.

Points of Performance

• Make sure you’ve got the right grip. If your palms feel like they’re being pinched you need to readjust.
• Always start from a static deadhang with a tight body and active shoulders. 
• The kip should feel fluid and springy. Try to ride the momentum you create.
• Before moving to Level 2, ask a coach to access your kip swing.

LEVEL 1 VIDEO DEMO

Level 2, The Dynamic Pull and Mature Finish: Now that you’ve mastered the kip swing and have found the weightless “pop” on the back end, try to reopen your hip and get over the bar. Make it your goal to use momentum, not pulling strength to finish the pull up. When you get over the bar, hold the top for a 2-count. This will help you establish a mature finish position. Lower yourself down and reset. 

Points of Performance

• Don’t slow down your kip swing before you attempt to get over. This is a common mistake. A bigger kip will make the pull-up easier.
• You’ll have to reset after each rep. Kip swing > Dynamic Pull-Up > Hold over the bar for a 2-count > lower down and start over.
• You haven’t completed this step until you can consistently get over the bar in one fluid motion. Any stalling, slowing down, or extra little kicks to get over constitute a work in progress on Level 2.
• Have a coach look at your progress before moving to Level 3.

LEVEL 2 DEMO VIDEO

Level 3, Stringing Them Together: Now that you can kip over the bar you need to work on linking them together. If you’ve been diligent about holding the top of the pull up, you’ll have plenty of time to work on pushing away back into your kip swing. Once you can link two together, incrementally add reps until you can link 10 together. Watch the video at the bottom of this article to see this in real time. 

Points of Performance

• You don’t need to lose the momentary pause at the top of the pull up. In fact, the ability to do this indicates that you’re all the way over the bar. Sometimes folks develop a kipping pull-up and need to reach with their chin to get just over the bar—but this is not a complete kipping pull-up. Try to get the bar to neck level.
• This step is all about timing and rhythm. If you lose your balance or develop a pendulum swing, stop and reset.
• Be patient! Developing your pull ups is going to take some time. The good news is that it’s MUCH harder to get from 0-2 kipping pull-ups than it is to get from 2-10, so once you find your rhythm it’s just a matter of consistent practice to pile on the reps.

LEVEL 3 DEMO VIDEO

Watch these videos (Kipping Pull-Ups Part 1 and Part 2) to see some of these progressions broken down. As always, ask a coach if you need any help with these steps!

_________________
Words Radiolab
Stalking the Shadow Universe New York Times
Brooks Falls: Brown Bear & Salmon Cam Explore
Greasy Food, Joint Pain, Being Obsessive Compulsive, Training Well, & Enjoying Life Catalyst Athletics

Fitness
At 0:00
30-20-10 reps for time:
Kettlebell Swings 72/53
Push Ups 

at 15:00
21-15-9 reps for time:
Dumbbell Thrusters
Pull Ups or Jumping Pull Ups 

Performance
At 0:00
9-6-3 reps for time:
Muscle Ups
Squat Clean Thrusters 155/105 

At 15:00
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Burpees
Pull Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Kayleigh is in Park City, Utah and after scaling a 10,000 ft. mountain, she realized, “I’m wearing my CFSBK shirt and I’m really high up—I should try a pistol.” Get it, girl! And come home to us soon!

Erik Kolb Update

Last week, we made the sad announcement that one of our members, Erik Kolb, died at the end of May. Many of you reached out and asked how you might be able to help, and Shawn S. did some research and discovered that Lafayette College (where Erik went to college) has a memorial scholarship set up in Erik’s name. Should you feel so inclined, there are three ways to donate: 

1) Go to their online donation page and put Erik’s name into the “in memory of” section of the form.
2) Send a check payable to Lafayette College with “in memory of Erik Britton Kolb” in the memo field to: Development Office, Lafayette College, Box 3000 Easton, PA 18042
3) Call the development office at 610.330.5034 and give them your credit card information and specific fund instructions over the phone. 

Lafayette will send the family notifications of any donations made. Thank you, Shawn!

Upcoming Competitions

Interested in putting your CrossFit training to the test? Consider signing up for one of the following competitions:

2014 Subway Series
Registration is still open for all four of the Subway Series events. The first one takes place on Sunday, August 3rd at CrossFit LIC.  More information can be found on the event page.  

Flex on the Beach—Long Beach
Teams of 4 athletes complete 3 WODs on the beach Saturday, 13 September 2014. Each team consists of 2 men and 2 women. Rx’d and Scaled divisions available. Additional details can be found here.

If you are interested in competing, please email Coach MeLo, at melissa [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com.

Run a 10K Time Trial Tomorrow Morning

Calling runners with advanced or elite development goals! CFSBK’s Endurance Coach Michael O. is pacing and recording a 10K for time with CFSBK marathon-athlete Evan R. this Friday at 6am in Prospect Park. This is a peak of 10K training to test sustainable speed and power before entering a NYC Marathon training program. If you have any big marathon goals (i.e., sub-40:00 10K time), consider joining these gentlemen tomorrow morning to set a great benchmark for your marathon journey.

When: 6am SHARP for warm-ups tomorrow, Friday the 18th
Where: Prospect Park Grand Army entrance

If interested, you must e-mail michael.olzinski [at] gmail.com to let him know you’re coming. 

_________________
Train Like a German Soccer Star New York Times
Ample Hills Gowanus, Brooklyn’s ‘Ice Cream Paradise’ Eater
Butt Wink Is Not About the Hamstrings Dean Somerset
How Coolness Defined the World Wide Web of the 1990s The Atlantic

Fitness: Clean and Jerk
Spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy clean and jerk. If you have a hard time organizing the first pull, then perform the clean from the hang. 

Performance: Clean and Jerk 1-1-1
Warm up and take three attempts at a new PR.
_________________

Front Squat

Fitness: 3-3-3-3-3, Establish a new 3RM
Start your first attempt at or near your last 3×5 weight.

Performance: 1RM Test
Warm up to 80% for a single then:
90%x1
95%x1
100%x1 (this would in fact be a new 1RM)
105%x1
105% + if still moving
Remember to use the same theoretical max you’ve been using all cycle. 

Post loads to comments.
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Jenna J. loves her Herondale Farm eggs!

• Happy birthday, Shawn T.! 

Eggs for Sale + CSA Pickup Tonight

Herondale Farm eggs will be available for purchase today from 6-8:30 during the CSA pickup, $6/dozen. Please bring small bills. Veg and flower pickup is also tonight, as usual!

Want to Get Better at Handstands? 

Now is your chance. Join guest gymnastics coach Ken H. THIS SATURDAY as he takes you through a 1.5 hour class working on handstands, arm balances, walking on your hands, headstands, and other fun balances that engage your core.

No need for prior need for handstand experience! Just the desire to practice being upside down.

Time: Saturday, July 19th, 2-3:30pm
Cost: $20 

The class is capped at 8 participants, so don’t think twice! Register Here! 

Ken Haller’s Bio
Ken was a nationally competitive gymnast in Newton, MA and at the University of Michigan. After graduating, Ken coached for eight years at Capital Gymnastics in Northern Virginia where he coached regional and national champions. His students have gone on to be NCAA champions and members of Cirque du Soliel. In searching for an activity to replace gymnastics, Ken filled the void with rock climbing and yoga for the past ten years and recently found CrossFit to round out his training.

_________________
Wyclef Jean / Jennifer Hunter-Marshall Music Video CrossFit
Understanding CrossFit and the Intensity Prescription The AF Project
Seriously, Stop Refrigerating These Foods Healthy Body Buzz
A Colorful Time-Lapse of the World’s Largest Balloon Festival The Atlantic (!!!)

July Athlete of the Month: Janelle Barth

We’re back, with another addition to your favorite series: Athlete of the Month! Janelle has been quietly and consistently improving since she walked through the roll-up gate at CFSBK two years ago. Her calm approach to the bar and her willingness to push her limits have had her knocking on the AOM door for a while now. Plus, jello shots. Read on for more about another standout SBKer!

Fox: Hey Janelle, congrats on being an Athlete of the Month! Starting from the beginning, when did you first start CrossFit? 

Janelle: I started at CFSBK in January of 2012. I had already been doing some CrossFit WODs with a trainer I was working with at the time who was a CrossFit enthusiast. She also introduced me to barbell training and I was into it but had a few nagging injuries. Mike and Noah (Janelle’s hubby and brother-in-law, respectively) had just finished a Foundations cycle with you and Jess and urged me to give it a try. I was looking to learn to perform the movements properly and possibly join South Brooklyn so I scheduled a PT session to test out of Foundations. Honestly I was intimidated and thought it was a real possibility that I wouldn’t pass the test out and have an excuse to not join. But as fate would have it, I passed. I started with a 2x/week and quickly moved to 5x/week. 

Fox: As I recall, I had the pleasure of doing your test out session. It’s great that your previous trainer introduced you not only to the conditioning aspect of CrossFit, but also to the barbell lifts. You’ve been training pretty consistently since you started with us. What is it about CrossFit that strikes a chord with you? 

Janelle: At first it was the attention to detail and the coaching. I liked CrossFit but wanted to move well and not be injured. The gym quickly became my community though, and that’s a large part of why I keep coming back. Previous to SBK, I’d been involved in a bunch of sports leagues while I lived in Pittsburgh, PA that provided a social outlet and I was missing that. I’m the type of person who can be nervous as the “new girl” but at CFSBK I felt at home right away. It felt like I’d found my people. I slowly started enjoying some of the social events and making friends, making jello shots helped with the latter. Now almost three years later I have strong friendships through the gym. Just chatting on the mat is a nice part of this place. There’s always a coach’s set of eyes on you, paying attention and motivating you. I also like the tangible aspect of fitness in CrossFit. Strength cycle really taught me the value of journaling so I can tell you that my first squat exposure in Strength was at 95 pounds, and after my third time through the program, I hit a 200 pound PR at a total. Strength cycle is a great way to experience a different part of the SBK while still being a part of the community. I see myself bouncing back to it in the future. 

Fox: Doubling your squat in a few months is amazing! I remember, as do many of us I’m sure, the first year you and Mike brought those jello shots. You guys won a lot of people over that night. You mentioned sports leagues, what did you play? 

Janelle: Those jello shots are so tedious but totally worth it! More like what didn’t I play. I was on teams for flag football, volleyball, kickball, softball, you name it. Not to brag but, I was pretty good. Teams would poach me as a ringer. I was kind of a big deal (laughs). I did that stuff as much for the sport and fitness as I did for the social aspect. I don’t play anything anymore since CrossFit fills that role, but I have recently joined a Jack Rabbit running group in the city. After a few strength cycles I wanted to get back to a more diverse level of fitness so I’m doing a few group classes a week in addition to the running group. I’ll be doing my first race in three years this fall. 

Fox: I really like the idea of you fielding offers from competing dodgeball teams! Tell us a little about you outside of the gym. Where are you from, and what do you do outside of the gym? 

Janelle: I grew up in Wheatley Heights, Long Island and had a seemingly idyllic childhood. My sister and I are first-generation American children of a Trinidadian dad and a Croatian mom. Our parents went out of their way to provide us a cookie-cutter life but I still always seemed to feel out of place. I really didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere until I went away to camp. I spent my first summer at Incarnation Camp in Connecticut when I was 12 and then every summer after until I eventually wound up working as a counselor there. That place was and still is so special to me. It’s where I met Mike and where we actually had our wedding. Our first “date” was a Scrabble game at camp, and he’ll tell you he let me win. Funny thing though is he still hasn’t beat me! As far as what else I do there’s actually a lot at the moment. Since I’m between jobs, I’m using the time to improve my skillset. I’ve worked as an operations manager in a few fields but truly enjoy early childhood development and education. My passion is improving the lives of kids. I like to bake and knit for fun, and Mike and I love to explore the world both abroad and locally. On our to-do list for this summer is to walk across every bridge in New York City. It’s a great way to see a new neighborhood and experience the food and art it has to offer. Further from home I’d have to say that my favorite trips so far have been a cruise we took to the Panama Canal, which really can’t be described it was so amazing, and our honeymoon in Hawaii. The Big Island was the best. We went from the rainforest to the mountains in the same day. The constellations we saw on that mountain will stay with me forever. 

Fox: That trip sounds amazing! As does the idea of getting to new parts of the city and walking the bridges. Great stuff, Janelle. I have my last stock question for you. What should we look for in a future Athlete of the Month?

Janelle: Someone who is coachable and willing to get outside their comfort zone. I remember gulping when I saw the number 170 on the board for my squats in Strength Cycle. I was nervous but I trusted Jeremy so I did it. That’s a good place for people to go sometimes. That and someone who takes care of the space and equipment. Put your dumbbells and plates back where they came from, people! 

_________________
Why So Many Kids Can’t Sit Still in School Today Washington Post
Recovery and Mood After Exercise: Do Carbs Make a Difference? Breaking Muscle
32 Pictures That Will Change the Way You See the World BuzzFeed

Fitness: 5 Rep Max
Add 2 to 5 lbs to last week. 

Performance: 87.5% x 4 x 4, then 85% x 4 x 4
Rest less than two minutes between sets.  

Post loads to comments.
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_________________

In one minute perform:
5 Deadlifts 275/185
then,
AMRAP Double Unders for 8 Rounds

Rest 1 minute between rounds, repeat 8 times. Score deadlift weight and total number of double unders.

Post loads and total to comments.

CFSBK’s 8am-ers go Kitchensurfing

News and Notes 

• Happy birthday, Grace D.! 
• CrossFit 718 is relocating this summer to 26th Street & 3rd Avenue, and they’re having a party! 718 Coaches Tammyli and Israel would love for any and all CFSBKers to join them at their new box to celebrate on August 2nd from 9am-2pm with a tough WOD and lots of champagne (and sweat-free raffles and giveaways). Check out their Facebook event page here.
• Another Monday, another new ITA post, and this time, it’s a Q&A about starting your own affiliate. Head over to Inside the Affiliate to check out “Your Fran Time Doesn’t Matter: Starting a Good CrossFit Gym.”
• Yesterday was Charlie L.’s last day at CFSBK as he has joined the exodus to New Jerz. Charlie, you will be missed!

Kitchensurfing in Brooklyn

Last week, some of our 8am regulars got together to… kitchensurf? It’s not what it sounds like—there were no surfboards involved, just the delicious food pictured above. Austen I. and Dan K. work for a company in Brooklyn called Kitchensurfing, which is an online marketplace that allows you to find outstanding local chefs to cook for you, in your very own home. The chef they booked was Linda Sarris, and more flicks of her delicious treats are in our Flickr account, all shot by CFSBK’s talented Susan P. 

If you’d like to jump on the kitchensurfing train, Austen and Dan have a $50 off coupon for CFSBK who want to have their first Kitchensurfing meal. The code is: cfsbk. 

_________________
The Protein Debate: Dr. Loren Cordain & T. Colin Campbell Catalyst Athletics
‘Columbusing’: The Art Of Discovering Something That Is Not New NPR
27 Delightful Obsolete Words It’s High Time We Revived BuzzFeed
From Your Mouth to Your Eyes Dr. Steve Brule 

Fitness: Deadlift: 4 x 2
Add 5-15 pounds. It should be getting heavy, but maintain a perfect spine.

Performance: Power Clean + Push Jerk + Split Jerk at 75% x (1+1+1) x 5 
Use 75% of Wednesday’s number. Buy-in is 1.25xBW clean and jerk for men, 1xBW for women.

Post loads to comments.
_________________ 

For Time:
50 Calorie Row
40 Thrusters 75/55
30 Kettlebell Swings 53/35
20 Burpees
10 Muscle Ups 

If you can’t perform muscle ups, then sub 20 chest-to-bar or jumping pull-ups.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Miguel mid-pull on the snatch

• CONGRATULATIONS to all our Hail to the Queen IV participants, especially Coach MeLo who won SECOND PLACE! We’ll have more pictures from the event soon, but in the meantime, check out CrossFit Queens’ event page for some fun shots of our tough women. Also, this video of Coach Jess owning 170# on the clean complex.
• Happy birthday, Chris B.!
• Active Recovery is today at 11am with Coach Whitney.

_________________  
WATCH: Giant Undulating Anchovy School NPR
6 Reasons To Lose Weight That Have Nothing To Do With Fitting Into Your Skinny Jeans Huffington Post

Last Chance to Train Your Dogs at CFSBK!

Anthony Newman, New York magazine’s pick for Best Dog Trainer of 2013 and owner of Calm Energy Dog Training, is coming to CFSBK to train your dogs! But you must sign up by today by emailing Mare at mare [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com.

When: Saturday, August 2, 2014, at 2:15pm
What: a 90-minute workshop will meet at CFSBK and include obedience exercises in real-world situations, techniques for calm city walking (including a packwalk down to the local dog park), and followed by a Q&A
Where: your favorite gym
Cost: Specially-discounted cost for SBK: $55 per person/dog, which will drop to $45 if at least 10 people sign up

This event is open to CFSBK members and their friends and dogs of all sizes, provided they are basically social and non-aggressive. 

K-Dawg and Funk Master Fox, squattin’ low

“Mad Abs, Yo!” How Pilates Complements CrossFit, and Getting to Know Kristin H.

By Kate Reece

Kristin H. (a.k.a. Cage) hopped on the CFSBK train in the middle of 2010 and in her words, she now “cannot imagine her daily life without it.” We can’t imagine CFSBK without our favorite theatre major either, especially now that she teaches a Pilates class every Tuesday night in the upstairs annex at 7:30pm. Kristin is a classically trained Pilates instructor and has been teaching for more than eight years, after beginning her practice in 1999. She received her certification in April of 2006 from Core Pilates NYC, where she still works as a senior trainer. She is also a longtime member of the small team at Rinaldi Pilates, a top-notch boutique studio in Manhattan. 

Through her class at CFSBK, she’s enabled many of us to become far more intimate with our pelvic floors and abdominal muscles. The Hundred, Open Leg Rocker, and Single Leg Circles are only a few examples of the pain she’s thrown our way—pain that has sculpted us into better, more svelte ninjas. But when it’s all said and done and our washboard abs help us stay tight as we descend deep into our squats or pick up heavy things, some of us might step back and muse: who is this Goddess of the Core? And maybe: I can do some of these Pill-at-eez exercises, but… what the heck is Pilates? And if I already do CrossFit, why should I care? 

Wonder no more. We’re coming to your rescue once again via a splendid interview with the Goddess herself, in which you’ll learn about her mute phase at CFSBK, where the phrase “Mad abs, yo!” came from, and how taking her class might help you kick some more CrossFit ass. For all of this and more, you’re welcome.

CFSBK: Hi KH! Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, what’s your favorite color, how’d you find CrossFit and CFSBK, etc. etc.?

KH: Well, I am a lifelong New Yorker (holla!): I was born and raised in Oyster Bay, Long Island, I went to college upstate at Syracuse University, and right after college I moved to NYC. I spent a year on the Upper East Side before moving to south Brooklyn, where I’ve now been for almost a decade. My favorite colors are deep purple (I spent a few years with a purple streak in my hair) and Syracuse Orange (yes, that’s an official color). And finally, I had heard some intriguing mythical tales of Crossfit from a few friends who had tried it, but what really happened is that I used to walk by the gym on my way to Brooklyn Boulders with an ex-boyfriend, who was a pretty avid climber. I always saw these big scary people flipping tires and stuff, and my workout routine was pretty stale at that point and I was looking for something new, so I decided to give it a try. That was in June 2010, and I never looked back!

CFSBK: We’re so glad you didn’t! I heard a cool story once (okay, you told me) about how you spent your whole first year at CFSBK talking to no one. That’s hard to imagine now. What helped you make the leap into opening your mouth and sharing your hilarious-ness with our community?

KH: Yeah, even though I am pretty social I am not always comfortable in new situations, especially when I don’t know what I am doing or if I feel intimidated. For my first year at CFSBK, I was on a punch card membership, and I wasn’t coming super consistently. When we used to do the “name game” at the start of class, no one ever knew my name because I was pretty quiet (imagine that). I think I started becoming friendly with people when I decided to up my Crossfit game and switch to a 5x week membership. At that time I was going through some personal changes, and changes with my work schedule, and I started regularly coming to the 7am class. That’s when I first started making friends, talking to people, saying things like “See you in class tomorrow!” And from there it just snowballed. The Paleo challenge happened*, I went to some rest day dinners, joined the softball team, started doing Sunday night trivia…the more I got involved with the community the more I felt like, “Yes. These are my people.”

*Editor’s note: The Paleo challenge didn’t just “happen”; she won it in 2012.

CFSBK: How did you start practicing Pilates? What even is Pilates? (Besides one of those words that if you say it over and over, it starts to look absurd.)

KH: I started practicing mat Pilates with a dance professor of mine back in 1999, and always really enjoyed it. I then got into Pilates as a career when I was trying to find a way out of the restaurant business. At the time (2005), I was bartending to pay the bills while pursuing a career in the theatre. Pilates, in a few sentences, is a system of exercises focused on strengthening the “core,” which generally refers to the abdominal, back, and hip muscles. It can be done with just a mat or on machines, and it was invented and developed by Joseph Pilates, who was born in 1883 in Germany, immigrated to NYC in the 1920s, and died in 1967. He opened his first studio in midtown Manhattan, and invented and built all of the Pilates equipment, which basically look like S&M torture machines and have names like “The Reformer” and “The Chair.” Joe’s teachings have been passed on through the generations by some of his original students, which I think is so freaking rad and old school and legit. He was pretty much the bomb diggity. Google him.

CFSBK: We’re on it. So how does practicing Pilates complement training at CFSBK? Besides looking hot in a bikini, why do I need a strong core?

KH: Well obviously, Kate, one’s first priority should always be looking hot in a bikini/speedo. But I think Pilates is such an awesome complement to training at CFSBK because it not only feels great, but it can be directly applied to your lifting technique. One of the things that the Pilates method does really, really well, in addition to strengthening your core, is teach you HOW to brace your core against the movement of your limbs, which is not always as simple as it seems. This helps to keep you safe from injury and also helps you become stronger, because you’ll learn how to move from your hips and shoulders and not let the work go into your back, for example. You will be focusing on engaging muscles that you might be more unfamiliar with. The goal is to learn how to move your limbs from a strong, stable, and supple core.

CFSBK: What can I expect if I come to one of your classes? Will I get a six-pack that night?

KH: Well, historically I’ve had some students who have been disappointed that they didn’t leave class with an immediate six-pack. I don’t want to call anyone out on this, but his name starts with an “L” and rhymes with “Bookah.” However, if you come to class you can expect to spend a lot of time lying down (awesome!), and mostly focusing on stabilizing the pelvis and ribcage against the movement of the limbs. It’s a LOT of abdominal work. Also, especially in my class here at CFSBK, I try to get people to “soften” their movements, and get in touch with deeper muscles that they may find harder to connect to. As CrossFitters, we spend so much time muscling through stuff with dynamic athleticism, that I think it’s helpful to encourage your muscles to work in a different way—maybe with more ease, and a different approach to precision. You can expect to feel taller, stretched out, and you’ll hopefully walk out of class with a newfound connection to your center. Sooooo Zen.

CFSBK: Tell us about this “Mad abs, yo,” business. Where did that phrase come from? 

KH: That was all Chris Fox’s doing. He just said it to me once and I freaking loved it. It became a thing. He also refers to me as “K-Dawg,” which I am so down with. I sometimes call him “Funk Master Fox,” and so should everyone. He also thinks I’m trouble but that’s totally not true.

CFSBK: Right. No trouble at all. So if I’m already sold on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm, how can I get more of you? Where else do you teach?

KH: I am always available for one-on-one sessions or small group sessions, either here at the gym or at one of my studios in the city. If you visit my website (www.khpilates.com), there are links to the two studios that I work at, and you can visit their websites to see when I am teaching group classes. I mostly teach private sessions, but I do have a lunchtime mat class from 1-1:45 at Core Pilates NYC in Union Square on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It’s more of an intermediate-level class, so if you have some Pilates experience and time for a lunch break you should come on down! Mad abs, yo!

CFSBK: Okay, last question: where did the nickname Cage come from?

KH: At the last Tough Titsday meet, when I went up to lift, everyone was calling out “C’mon, KH!” Lauren Howe, who was one of our spotters, turned to someone and said, “Why is everyone calling her Cage?” When I heard that story, I immediately pictured myself squatting 350# while wearing a Hannibal Lector mask, screaming, and making super angry eyes. Decided to make it stick. David is responsible for my original nickname of KH, got K-Dawg from Fox, Cage from Lauren Howe, Wonder Twin from Stella, K-Hizzle from Laura… and that’s not including all of the nicknames I’ve been given earlier in life (Juice, Hessyballs, K-Spano…). Sooo… yeah. I have a thing for nicknames. But I’ll make you a deal: come to my class and you can call me whatever you want (I may instantly regret that)!

• Happy birthday, Nigel S.! 
• CFSBK’s softball team, the Calaveras, have another game tonight at the Red Hook softball field. The game starts at 6:15! Head over there to enjoy the sunset and cheer them on!

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Hilary Knight Gets Puck Naked ESPN Magazine 
What To Do Once You’ve Finished All the Beer The Loop 
Sweating Out Their Differences: OK Rep. Markwayne Mullin Whips Fellow House Members Into Shape New York Times