• There is No Open Gym tonight.

Potluck Tonight!

All are welcome to attend our second community potluck and LFPB Challenge awards ceremony. Not only will we crown the top 3 male and female winners, we’ll also be doing a raffle and quick talk about why we do the challenge every year and how to stay motivated and accountable moving forward. As mentioned yesterday, I was unable to secure the bouncy castle (sorry!) but we’ll create a little kids area for the event.

Start time: 7:30pm
End time: 9:30-10:00pm

Civilian Military Combine This September

Looking for an opportunity to put your Crossfit training to the test?  CFSBK is putting a team together to compete at this year’s Civilian Military Combine taking place at Aviator Sports and Recreations on Saturday, September 14th! 

Here’s a description of what you’d be signing up for: 
“The CMC competition is broken down into three components to test strength, endurance and agility. Race day structure will consist of “The PIT” (lifting element) into a 5 -7 mile race with strategically placed military obstacles. This structure is what separates the Civilian Military Combine from all other races and competitions. The PIT is designed to be the great equalizer by leveling the playing field between power athletes and endurance runners to determine the best overall conditioned athlete. This race structure has been carefully created, refined and reviewed by the top strength and conditioning coaches from the CrossFit community, United States Armed Forces and USA Triathlon Organization Race Directors.”

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to co-captains Coach MeLo (Melissa@CrossfitSouthBrooklyn.com) and/or Coach Noah (Noah@CrossfitSouthBrooklyn.com).

Write The First Open WOD

CrossFit has approached you to write the first workout for the 2013 CrossFit Open. The workout must be between 5 and 15 minutes long, an AMRAP and designed for inclusiveness. That means that the weights and movements should be something that most folks can do, OR starts with movements and loads most can do then works up. Write your dream workout!
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How mindfulness can help improve your self-control Ancestralize Me
What South West Airlines can teach you about losing weight and keeping it off Being Primal
It’s The Sugar, Folks NYT

Fitness: 3×5
Perform your first exposure to Front Squats. Bar speed should remain quick and your positions should be perfect.

Performance: 65%x2x8
Perform 2 reps every minute, on the minute for 8 minutes

Post loads to comments.
FSQ e1/6
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4 Rounds NFT of:
10 Dumbbell or Kettlebell Thrusters with 1 second pause at lockout
10 Strict Pull-Ups
:30e Side Plank

While NFT, don’t take your sweet time, try to move quickly through it. Go as heavy as possible with the thrusters maintaining good positions. If you’d like to add weight to the Pull-ups, go for it.

Post loads and Rx to comments.

CFSBK’s Chris A. and two time CrossFit Games champion Annie Thorisdottir at CrossFit 5th Avenue.  Chris is writing the feature/workout story on Annie for the July/August issue of Muscle and Fitness Hers.

Want to know what’s going on at CFSBK? Check out the Events Blog that details all our upoming events listed on the right.

Potluck Tomorrow

On Friday, March 1st at 7:30-9:30pm we’ll be hosting our second community potluck and LFPB Challenge awards ceremony. If you participated in the challenge this is a great opportunity to close it out with all the other folks who joined in over the last 6 weeks. We’ll be presenting awards to everyone who went above and beyond with their commitment and consistency and there will be a short presentation about what to do now that the challenge is over and some ideas to help you keep the momentum moving in the right direction. This event is open to everyone, regardless of participation.

Who: The entire CFSBK community is invited
Date: 03/01/23
Time: 7:30pm-9:30pm
Kid Friendly: Yes (unfortunately, no bouncy castle this time around. I was unable to coordinate with my parents this week to drop it off. We’ll still make a Kid friendly play area with the soft mats, sorry!!)

Please RSVP and include your dish in the event page

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Nicho is Ready
Michele Letendre OHS 215×3
Spencer Hendel Split Jerks 335×3
In The Gym With Christy Philips Greatist

Fitness: 3×8 Sets Across
This is your first exposure to Bench Pressing this cycle. The reps are going to be a little higher to build in some additional volume into the program. Get Yoked, Bro.

Performance: Heavy 8
Work up to a heavy set of 8. Leave some room in the tank as next week will be heavy 8’s as well. No Failing

Post loads to comments.
BP e1/6
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21-15-9 Reps For Time Of:
Kettlebell Swings
Push-Ups or Ring Push-Ups
Squats

Post time and Rx to comments.

Stand Up!

Skills Class: The Kipping Pull-Up

Noah’s Kipping Pull-up workshop will be Sunday, March 10th

Kipping pull-up require a significant amount of integrity in the shoulder girdle and as such this class requires a buy in of  1+ Strict Pull-Up (women) or 3 Strict Pull-Ups (men).  The class will be a $15 drop-in and space is limited to 8 participants.  Email Noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to sign up, make sure to mention your max number of dead hang pull-up and issues you’ve had learning/perfecting the kip so he can better prepare to get you swinging smoothly.

Skills Class: The Muscle Up

If you’ve been coming to the gym a lot, I bet you’ve noticed those round things hanging from the ceiling.  Aside from making very mediocre frisbees, the rings can be used for one of the most coveted and elusive Crossfit movements- The Muscle Up.  Combining all of the hardest parts of a pullup, a ring dip, and a barroom headbutt, the Muscle Up is a skill that can take a long time to learn on your own, but with careful practice and coaching can realistically be achieved in a fairly short time period.  Our own Coach Noah, born to the unholy union of a chain smoking Russian gymnastics coach and his lovely Chimpanzee bride Jenny Bananas, will be running a Skills Class devoted to learning, practicing, and developing the Muscle Up on Sunday, March 17th .  Space is limited to 8 participants, and those interested should sign Email Noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to sign up.  There is a $15 fee for the class and a strict buy in of 3 Unbroken Chest To Bar Pullups and 3 Strict Ring Dips.

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Amazing Jerk Recovery

Courtney: Heavy Deadlifts and a 2:13.08 1/2 Marathon

• Remdiner there is No Open Gym this Friday due to the Community Potluck

Courtney’s Testimonial

“I’ve been slacking off on running for the last couple of months for a host of reasons – coming off of training for the NYC Marathon-that-wasn’t, starting a new job, it’s been insanely freezing, blah blah blah: all of these are excuses. Really, CF has replaced running for me because I like CF so damn much. I had signed up for a 1/2 that I ran today, for which I was sorely undertrained. I went into it thinking that I’d take it easy and just do the best that I could, and that it would be an interesting little physiological experiment to see if CF-ing 3x a week without really running at all could prepare someone for a 1/2 marathon.
Call it asinine or call it crazy that I ran today – definitely more the former, though partially the latter – but not only did I finish with a PR, I didn’t hit a wall, experience terrible pain, or even feel that fatigued throughout the whole race.
I entirely credit the strength that I’ve developed as a result of doing CF with helping me to finish the race. Also, during races, I get really corny and think about how fortunate I am to be able to put one foot in front of the other, and I was also thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of the awesome and totally kickass CFSBK community.

It’s time for me to remove the ice from my knees, end my gushing and pass out, but for real, CFSBK – much love.” -Court
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Recommended Reading: “Feet First” by Bill Starr CrossFit Journal

Performance: High Bar Pause Squat
Work up to a heavy single. No Bailing

Fitness: Low Bar Back Squat
Pull back 10-20lbs from last cycles linear progression and hit a pre-exposure of a 3×5. Have a coach watch one of your work sets and advise on your start weight.

Post loads to comments.
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3 Rounds NFT:
Run 1/3 Mile
21 Wall Ball Shots

Coach Nick

• CFSBK’s Open Team is 82 STRONG at this moment. That makes us the 30th largest team in the world. (out of 2,034 Teams) LETS DO THIS

Snatch Camp

Program:
Spend the day learning the theory and practice of the Snatch with Starting Strength Coaches Josh Wells and Shelley Hancock. We will start with a brief lecture about the difference between the standard model and the straight Bar Path model.  Then we will move to the practical session were participants with learn or re-learn the movement with the more efficient bar path and set up. Everyone will have plenty of time under the bar to practice this method while receiving coaching throughout their warm-ups and work sets. Through the entire process, attendees will learn the standards of a properly executed movement and how it should look and feel when it is performed correctly. After the practical session, we will return for a discussion of programming and how to identify and correct common technical problems. The camp will wrap up with a question and answer session. Whether you are just starting out with strength training, struggling with the basics of the lift, or looking to polish your technique and understanding of these movements, you will come away with valuable insights and experience to benefit your training. Attendance will be capped at ten to allow for individualized instruction.

Proper weightlifting shoes, Lift Belt (mainly for Clean and Jerk Camp), Tall socks or Pants, and Tape are highly recommended.

Snatch: 3pm-5pm $90.00
Register Here!

Date & Location:
Saturday, March 9th, 2013
Crossfit South Brooklyn

We’ll also be hosting a Clean and Jerk Camp the following week

Josh Wells has 14 years of experience competing and coaching in the sport of Olympic weightlifting. As an international level lifter, he was a member of the Jr. Pan-American Team (2003) and a member of the Junior World Team (2004). In 2009 he received his Master’s of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology from Midwestern State University under Dr. Lon Kilgore. Josh has worked with many athletes from a variety of sports in conjunction with strength and conditioning programs at Texas Christian University and Midwestern State University. He was a primary coach, along with Mark Rippetoe, of the Midwestern State University and Bone Unit Olympic weightlifting teams operating under the Texas Weightlifting Regional Development Center. He has served as staff coach with for Starting Strength Seminars.

Shelley Hancock, a former ballet dancer, holds her Bachelors of Science in Athletic Training and a Master’s of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology from Midwestern State University under Dr. Lon Kilgore. With a sports medicine background, Shelley is able to apply a preventative and rehabilitative approach to strength and conditioning. Shelley is a licensed athletic trainer and Starting Strength Coach.  She has been barbell training for 5 years and currently competes in Olympic Weightlifting.

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If you could see a live performance from any musician (living or deceased) who would it be?

Hip Power Clean
Front Squat
Split Jerk

Work up to a medium but perfect set of the above complex.

Post loads to comments.
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20 Minutes, NFR of:
21 Calories On the Erg
15 Hollow Rocks
9/5 Handstand Push-Ups or 5 Pike Handstand Push-Ups

+ Count how many strokes it takes you to finish 21 Calories. See if you can accoplish the work in fewer pulls each round. Keep your stroke rating between 18 and 24
+ Do the Hollow Rocks Unbroken for every set
+ There is no Kipping in HSPU work today and a max of 1 abmat to scale ROM on the mature version. If you need more than 1 abmat to complete a rep, work on the piked version to get stronger.

Joe B pulling a 6:57.0 2K Under the guidance of Coach Nick

Congratulations to Jacinto B for placing 2nd in the  Masters Competition at CrossFit Shorline!

Potluck next week!

On Friday, March 1st at 7:30-9:30pm (there will be No Open Gym) we’ll be hosting our second community potluck and LFPB Challenge awards ceremony. If you participated in the challenge this is a great opportunity to close it out with all the other folks who joined in over the last 6 weeks. We’ll be presenting awards to everyone who went above and beyond with their commitment and consistency and there will be a short presentation about what to do now that the challenge is over and some ideas to help you keep the momentum moving in the right direction. This event is open to everyone, regardless of participation.

Who: The entire CFSBK community is invited
Date: 03/01/23
Time: 7:30pm-9:30pm
Kid Friendly? Yes! We’ll have the bouncy castle back
RSVP Here

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CrossFit: Save The Tens
sleepyti.me

7 Rounds Not For Time of:
3 Reverse Halting Deadlifts
6 Chin-Ups or 3 band assisted Chin-Ups
30 Double Unders or 1:00 Jump Rope Practice

+ Go heavyish but perfect on the Deadlifts. Watch the linked video if you didn’t see it yesterday
+ If you think you can do the chin-ups unbroken, add some weight. If you’re doing the three rep version, make each set difficult but successful.
+ If you’ve got Doubles try to do each set unbroken or in as few sets as possible. Can you clear 7 unbroken rounds?

TFBA Marian L at C.R.A.S.H.-B’s

See the entire C.R.A.S.H.-B Photo set here! Thanks to Asta F for the pictures!

Partner Stretch & Thai Massage Today!

Happy stretching to all the couples signed up for today’s workshop!

Let’s face it: after a workout it’s so much better when someone helps you stretch.  In a Partner Stretch workshop, you and your partner will learn Thai Massage techniques to increase range of motion, mobility & flexibility, decrease soreness, and to just plain ‘ol feel good.  

In these unique Partner Stretch & Thai Massage sessions, you and your partner will experience both giving and receiving bodywork.  You’ll feel relaxed and more connected to each other, get a full body stretch, and have tons of fun.  Plus, now you’ll always have a partner who knows how to give you a fabulous massage!

About Elyse & Sparkes Wellness

Elyse developed Sparkes Wellness to help ignite health in as many people as possible.  She does at home personal training, yoga, and Thai massage in Brooklyn, NY.  Elyse has taught Partner Stretch & Thai Massage workshops at lululemon athletica, international dance events, and New York yoga studios.  She has an ACE certification in personal training, an OM Yoga 200hr RYT, and many certifications in Thai massage.  Elyse is currently continuing her anatomy studies at The Breathing Project with Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews.
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Why Is There A Moon??… And More vsauce

Strategies For Movement Development: The Reverse Halting Deadlift

The Deadlift consists of four basic phases, the set up, pull, lock out and descent. There are plenty of articles, teaching progressions and information about the first three portions of the lift but much less interest and emphasis on how to properly lower the bar back to the ground. Despite this lack of information, properly bringing the bar back down has tremendous importance for both safety and performance.  The two most common faulty scenarios are where the bar is either dropped from the lock out position or the athlete, satisfied with “completing” the lift allows gravity and the weight of the bar to pull them back down in an uncontrolled and haphazard manner. The former scenario is more an issue of gym culture and context. In our gym, a test lift doesnt count if the bar is dropped from lockout, plain and simple. A dropped bar might be tolerated during the last rep of a conditioning workout or perhaps at the end of a warm-up rep before some heavy work sets but this scenario is the exception and not the rule. Dropping your bar is generally considered bad etiquette and a missed opportunity to train your back.

The latter scenario, wherein the bar held but allowed to free fall pulling the lifter out of ideal positions is much more insidious. When I see this, I think that lifter probably doesn’t have the strength, positional awareness and self respect to properly finish the lift.  Lets first discuss the dangers of not controlling the descent then discuss how to properly organize it.

Hazard 1: Spinal Flexion Under Load
When you allow the bar to pull you down you are by default not engaged in controlling the lift anymore which pulls your spine out of alignment and into flexion. This is often made worse by the downward acceleration which decreases your ability to control the momentum of the barbell. Any and every time you have carry a load with your back rounded you are performing some insult to your spine. Even if you think you’re off tension and “riding” the bar down until the floor absorbs most of the energy, damage may still be occuring in the soft tissue of your back. Rounding your spine on the way down is dangerous for all the same reasons it’s dangerous on the way up. Even if flexion doesnt occur, you will most likely be pulled forward off balance creating a mechanical inefficiency that your back will have to compensate for. Don’t be stupid, protect yourself.

Hazard 2: Lack of Positional awareness and weakened spinal erectors
Hinging at the hip is one of the most basic and important movement skills everyone should know how to do. Lacking this ability, whether due to weakness or awareness will inhibit every single thing you do inside and outside of the gym. Every time you rush a descent you’re losing an opportunity to reinforce this motor pattern and develop strength in your spinal erectors. If you have a hard time keeping your back on the way up, lowering under control is one of the best ways to develop your ability to maintain a neutral torso. I’ve used this “top down” approach countless times to fix people’s Deadlifts. This hip hinge awareness and strength will make you a much stronger lifter all around.

Hazard 3: Botching the set up for your next pull
Ideally the descent of the Deadlift is the identical inverse of the pull. When you bring the bar back down you should end up in the exact position you’re supposed to pull it from. If you have to “reset” your back position every time you pick it up you’re not deadlifting correctly. The bottom should be a moment to rebreath and retension, not reposition. For many people, finding extension can be very difficult at the start position. Add a little fatigue from previous reps into the mix and each rep will look worse throughout your set. It’s much easier to take the time to organize from the top down where the demands of flexibility and awareness are much less inhibitory.

How to fix your Deadlift
There are a handful of cues and movement drills that can teach you how to properly hinge at the hip but we’ll keep things simple and stay with the Deadlift itself.  In the video above you see a “Reverse Halting Deadlift”, (you can call it whatever you want). In this drill the bar is picked up in the conventional fashion however on the way down we add a brief pause just below the patella. It is extremely difficult to pause at this portion of the lift in an incorrect position.  If you’ve allowed your weight to drift forward or you’ve lost your back the bar will pull you down and crash on the floor. By initiating your descent with the hips pushed back and torso reaching forward you can keep the system in balance and train your spinal erectors to work they way they’re supposed to. Finish the lift by placing the bar down as slowly and under as much control as possible. It might be helpful to imagine Deadlifting onto a thin sheet of glass you’re attemptingt to not break. Especially as the weight increases, doing this under control will be brutally hard but I guarantee doing this will make your Deadlift pulls rock solid. Tomorrow you’ll see these intentionally programmed into class, but feel free to perform them on all your early warm-up sets whenever you Deadlift. I’ve been controlling my descents since I started Deadlifting and have never (ever) had issues with spinal flexion because of the strength I’ve gained from it. If I miss a lift it’s always because I lack the strength to complete the pull, never because I lost position.

Deadlifting incorrectly is dangerous. I’d rather see someone not do it all all than do it incorrectly. That being said, a well performed Deadlift is the best way to build a strong and safe back. Take the time to learn how to do it right every single time. When in doubt, ask a coach, and again, don’t be stupid.

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Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? NYT
How I learned a new language in 22 Hours Guardian
Memrise

Work up to a heavy double on the Front Squat with a :02 pause at the bottom of each rep.
Use this as an opportunity to work on your position in the hole. Cap it around 85% of your 1RM

Before front squatting today we’ll review a mobilization sequence using the band and an upright to get your ankles and shoulders ready for Front Squats, Cleans and Thrusters. You’ll be seeing traditional Front Squats every Thursday for the next 6 weeks. The new training cycle starts on Wednesday.

Post loads to comments.
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5 Rounds for NFT of:
3-6 Pistols each leg
18 Kettlebell Swings

Pistol Scale:
A: Rx’d
B: Holding onto an upright for support
C: Elevating the active foot on a box

Coaches Josh and McDowell do a Russian Kettlebell Swing and Chest To Bar Pull-Up Couplet

T-shirts, Hoodies and our new Blue V-Neck are now in stock at the gym!

Open Workout 13.2 at CFSBK

As many of you know, we’ll be hosting the live announcement, demo (with two games level athletes) and after party for Workout 13.2 of the 2013 CrossFit Open. We’re incredibly honored and excited to be putting on this event with CrossFit HQ and our neighbors at Littlefield NYC. CFHQ will be doing a live half hour broadcast of the event straight from the gym and afterwards we’ll have the afterparty at LF. Color us stoked! Please RSVP before it the event sells out, we started at 375 tickets and they’re going FAST.

RSVP for this event here

Dude, Where’s My 1RM?

By Coach Jeremy

Everyone has had the experience:  it’s the 2nd attempt of a Crossfit total or your working up to a new 1RM on singles day, you load up the bar with a weight equal to you your existing 1RM, you get psyched up, unrack the bar, go into the hole, and……nothing.  It doesn’t come back up.  Why?  Did you get weaker?  Are you doing something wrong?  Why can’t you do what you’ve already done?

Think of a 1RM not so much as a measure of strength capacity but as an act of strength performance.  Veteran lifters will speak of owning a weight versus hitting a weight.  Owning a weight means that you can get under a bar just about anytime you want and move that weight (assuming a proper warm-up and having not done back-to-back hero WOD’s that week).  Hitting a weight is a much less reproducible feat.  It means that on a day where you felt good, were well rested, timed your eating properly, had your weight belt sitting just right, heavenly bodies were aligned properly, and you managed not to fuck anything up,  you were able to squeeze out a higher weight than ever before. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a weight that you have only hit isn’t something that you can just do on command.  It’s an act of strength and will; repeating it doesn’t just happen.  No sprinter expects to hit a PR every time they run a given distance, not in competition and especially not in training.  There is no reason to just assume that every time you get under a barbell you’re going to PR.

We should also consider that not every one’s best event in lifting is the 1RM.  Consider again, sprinting.  All sprinters are fast, that’s why they are sprinters.  However sprinters have different specialties, some are better in a 60m dash, others are better at the quarter mile.  If we took a random group of sprinters and tested their best times at a series of distances, say 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, we would probably find that the rankings would look very similar across the events: the faster runners would tend to do well at all of them.  However, you would also expect to see some shuffling of rankings based upon the individual strengths of the sprinters.  Some are better at accelerating, some run the turns well, some finish well, etc. To bring this back to lifting, imagine a group of powerlifters from the same weight class.  If you tested their 1RM, 3RM, and 5RM squat you would see something very similar:  The strongest lifters would tend to be at the the top of each ranking, however you would also see some move up or down the leader board as the reps changed based upon their individual characteristics.  This is relevant to us because the better you are at an event, the 3RM versus the 1RM for instance, the more likely you are able to reproduce your best effort.  We should test our strength at 3RM’s and 5RM’s for precisely the same reason that Track and Field tests more than just the 100m dash as a measure of speed.

Weighlifting, Powerlifting and Crossfit Total’s are all tests of 1RM. This isn’t because 1RM’s are magical, it’s just that they are easier to quantify, they are the highest weights (and everyone wants to see big weights), so they lend themselves to being tested. All this being said there is certainly nothing wrong with going after 1RM’s and when game day comes, you want to break some records. Set yourself up for success by working hard at a good program, resting up in the days leading to the event and getting your head inside your lift when you get under the bar.  Once the day’s lifting is over, let it go.  A sprinter isn’t suddenly slow on the day they don’t PR; you’re not weak on the day you don’t either.  Allow for the fact that not everyday you try to PR is going to be the perfect day to demonstrate that amount of strength.

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Which two CrossFit athletes are you hoping show up to face off at CFSBK?

Work up to a medium 3×5 Across
Today we’ll review Bench Press 101 and work technique on the lift.  You’ll be seeing Bench Pressing on Wednesdays the following 6 weeks. The first formal exposure will be next week.

Post loads to comments.
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4 Rounds NFT:
10 Strict Dumbbell Presses
10e Palloff Presses

Work up to a heavy but perfect 10 on the press

Upcoming Oly Camps

Want to get better at the quick lifts? CFSBK will be hosting Josh Wells and Shelly Hancock who will be teaching the theory and practice of the Snatch or Clean and Jerk on two upcoming dates. These camps will be small group sessions focusing on understanding and executing the lifts correctly.  For more information about each camp, click the cooresponding links below:

3/9/13 Snatch Camp
3/16/13 Clean and Jerk Camp

Both camps run from 3pm-5pm and cost $90.00 per person. Space is limited to 10 athletes. Sign up today!

Live Workout Announcements for the Open

This year, each Open workout will be announced LIVE from a different affiliate. Starting March 6, head to the Games site each Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT to see the announcement and then watch two of CrossFit’s top athletes take on the workout and post the first official scores. 

Open Workout 13.2 will be announced LIVE from Crossfit South Brooklyn!  Be sure to RSVP for this event here!  Athletes for the workout will be announced one week in advance. 

See below for the list of times and affiliates.

Open Workout 13.1 
March 6, 2013, 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET)
CrossFit Vitality
Concord, N.C.
Athletes: Dan Bailey vs. Scott Panchik

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The Back-Off Week Cathletics