Laurel and Cloyde get some Foam Roller love

At 5:30pm on Friday we're going to meet to set up the gym for Fight Gone Bad.  If you're available to lend a hand please let me know in the comments section.  We'll need to move some mats, set up the equipment and make sure things are ready to go for Saturday. I don't predict it taking longer than about an hour.

We also could use some other general volunteers for FGB on Saturday to help run scores and register all the athletes.  Please email David(at)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com
So far we've got Paul C, Brandy M and Malcolm S helping out. Who else is in???

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Why You Should Exercise, (Vintage Video) Iron Maven

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

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compare to 7.6.09

Accessory Work
Choose your weakest Fight Gone Bad movement and do some focus training on it. Here are some options:
Technique Phase: Practice the movement in a fatigue free environment.  Make every rep perfect.
Consistency Phase: See if you can do 15-25 reps while maintaining consistent technique. If form breaks down, take a break.
Intensity Phase: Perform 3-5 one minute pressure tests for max reps. Either rest as needed between attempts or set a rest interval.

Tire Flips!

Congratulations CFSBK for raising $15,290 for two great causes!

FGB is a social event, please feel free to invite family and friends to check out all the action.  This is a great opportunity to show everyone what this "crazy CrossFit thing" is all about.

1 Mile Run

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compare to 3.18.09

Accessory Work
Choose your weakest Fight Gone Bad movement and do some focus training on it. Here are some options:
Technique Phase: Practice the movement in a fatigue free environment.  Make every rep perfect.
Consistency Phase: See if you can do 15-25 reps while maintaining consistent technique. If form breaks down, take a break.
Intensity Phase: Perform 3-5 one minute pressure tests for max reps. Either rest as needed between attempts or set a rest interval.

Jenna goes overhead

Good luck to Jess Fox who is running the Queens Half Marathon today!

For Time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats

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compare to 3.1.08

Accessory Work
Foam Roll

Felix doing a barbell complex

CFSBK at $14,570 for Fight Gone Bad
To date, CrossFit South Brooklyn has raised $14,570 for charity, more than double what we raised last year!  I'd like to especially acknowledge Matt Ufford who has raised $6,671 through the Kissing Suzy Kolber blog where he is a contributor.  Matt also won a pair of FGB IV Oakleys for being the top fund raiser internationally on 9/16.  On top of this, our own Jim Ryan was the winner of the Home Stretch Challenge last Wednesday. He raised $520 and gets pair of FGB IV Oakleys too. Great work, guys!

Here are our top 5 fund raisers
1. Matt U:  $6,671
2. Brian S:  $985
3. Jim R:  $915
4. Gerrit G:  $703
5. Anne W:  $545

Because of all this phenomenal fund raising, CrossFit South Brooklyn will be receiving a limited edition 24"x36" event poster and a 3'x3' vinyl banner from the good folks at Fight Gone Bad IV.

If your fund raising hasn't hit the floor running yet, why don't you spread some good karma by donating $10 to someone else from SBK?  Click this link and search for South Brooklyn under "Team Name" to make your move.
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Good luck to Coach Jeremy who will be competing in the middle weight division of the 2009 CrossFit Strongman Hybrid Fall Challenge

Anthony spends his Rest Day at Brooklyn Boulders

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Kid Marshmallow Experiment
Can you See Time? BBC News
To Train Harder, Consider a Crowd NY Times

Row 2000m

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compare to 10.12.08

Accessory Work
WU: 3 Rounds NFT
16 Partner Medball Tosses
8 Strict Pull-ups

Low Bar Back Squats 101

Little Milo post kids class

There will be a 5pm L1 Class today!

CrossFit South Brooklyn has officially signed a 10 year lease for our new home on 597 Degraw Street.  Our facility will be approximately 4,700 sq feet with 19 foot ceilings and a huge roll up gate.  With our own space we will be able to provide much better services including showers, nicer bathrooms, heat!, more classes, bailing potential, more training options and overall better product.  We'll also be right down the block from our new BFFs, Brooklyn Boulders.  The expected completion of the facility will be November 1st however our move in date will be dependent on the Certificate of Occupancy which we're hoping will be signed shortly thereafter.
Thank you so much to all our members and staff who made this move a possibility.  Remember, this is a huge accomplishment for all of us.  Very gradually over the last two years every single member and trainer has contributed to making South Brooklyn what it is today. 
We've only seen the tip of the ice burg.

We want to create even more of a home away from home atmosphere with our box.  This means that everyone's input is necessary for making it a success.  What kind of things would you like to see in our permanent facility?
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HUGE shout out to Matt Ufford for raising $3,726 for Fight Gone Bad so far! Matt has done an incredible job and was recognized on the Fight Gone Bad Page for his efforts. Check it out here!
Also- We exceeded our Gym goal and have to date raised: $10,310 for Charity
Way to go, everyone!!!

3-3-3-3-3

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Accessory Work
3 Rounds of:
1 Minute of Max Reps at each station
Burpees
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 75/55
Double Unders
Rest

Chris v. Bear

Happy Birthday, Rebecca B!!!

Paul Titus talks Kettlebell cleans

We will have a 5pm Level 1 class tomorrow in addition to our usual 6pm class.

Happy Birthday, Tal! Hope you're enjoying Israel

Good luck to Coach Jeremy who will be competing this weekend in Hybrid Athletic's CrossFit Strong Man Competition.

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CrossFit HQ's Kelly Moore (114lbs) does 15-9-6 Diane with Men's weight 'righteous' Deadlifts and elevated HSPU's
CrossFit Fairfax's Maggie and MK take on a DL/JRD/RC WOD

Ladies & Germs,

For those of you entering CRASH-Bs, registration is open. Go here to register.  There are various age categories, and there are three weight categories: coxswain (120lbs or under for women, 130lbs. or under for men); lightweight (135 lbs. or under for women, 165 lbs. or under for men); and heavyweight (no weight cutoff).

The best thing CrossFitters can do to prepare for CRASH-Bs is row row row. To that end, I recommend doing at least three rowing workouts a week. Below is a list of four workouts. You can do one of each of them per week for the next four weeks. ONLY DO ONE OF THESE WORKOUTS IN ONE SESSION.

Workout # 1
2 x 20 min./5 min. rest @ 16 stroke rate. Maximal effort. But if you go above 16 (stroke rate) you defeat the purpose. For one thing, you will overtire yourself, and for another you’ll not benefit technique-wise.

Workout# 2
2-3 x 11 min./5 min. rest @ 20 for 3 min., 24 for 2 min., 28 for 1 min., 24 for 2 min., and 20 for 3 min.

Workout# 3
3 x 2000m/5 min. rest @ 20 sec. slower than your PR. So if your PR is 8:00.0, go for 8:20.0 or under. No ratings guidelines/caps; you’ll probably find that 25-27 will be good. Hit the same target for each and every piece. If you get 8:20.1, it doesn’t count, and you redo the following week. If you can 8:20.0 or under, you can shoot for 8:17 or something like that the next time. If you easily hit 8:15 each time, then you’re in better shape than you’d realized and you need to lower the target to, say 8:10.

Workout# 4
40 min. easy. No stroke guidelines. For the pace you normally go for 2 x 20 min., go AT LEAST 10 sec. slower per 500m split. So if you go about 2:20 for 2 x 20 min., go 2:30 and slower. To put it another way: if you feel like completely sloughing this workout, that’s fine. Go for it. Just be consistent – don’t let your stroke rate or your splits wander all over the place, like from 2:30 to 2:10 to 2:40. If time allows, this is a great workout to do after dead lifts, squats, etc. You can think of it as an extended cool-down. This at workout #1 are going to be the best ways for you to home in on the technique.

Just to spice things up, if you’re up for it, in addition to the above four workouts, do this:

Workout# 5
2 x (4 x 500m/2 min.) / 5 min. This means: four 500m pieces with 2 min. rest between them. After the fourth 500m piece, take 5 min. rest. Then repeat. No ratings guidelines/caps for this workout. You’ll probably be around 28-34.

We will do more of workout #5 in January, so if you feel like holding off on it, that’s fine.

Please remember to be consistent. For instance, for workout #5, don’t let your numbers be too different from each other. You don’t want to be a hero only for two of the pieces; so if you feel you have to restrain yourself at the beginning so that you can do better when you’re tapped, that’s good. The goal is to raise the bar across the board. In other words, you want to improve ALL of those 500s each time you do the workout, not just a couple.

I’ll post something like this on the website shortly. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’d like to organize workouts at the Lyceum so we can get groups together. And I’d like to do the workouts too.

Articles and Resources:
“Rowing a 2K Race”, by Nick Peterson

Month 1 Training Rationale:

After observing several CrossFitters on the erg, I’ve concluded that
the best thing you can do is simply to get more miles; most
CrossFitters are not comfortable on the machine, and getting lots of
miles behind you will help with this.

You will benefit
more from fairly relaxed, longer workouts than you can from short,
intense workout. Also, I’m prescribing a low stroke rate. There are a few reasons for this: first, it allows you to relax
between strokes and maintain a long stroke; length is what you need to
be able to survive a competitive race. Second, with a low stroke rate, the wheel has a chance to
really slow down between strokes; this makes it
easier for you to feel your weight against it. Third, a higher stroke rate is unsustainable at this
pressure, and I want you to learn how to really honk on it. Fourth and last, this workout will give you a strong
foundation of muscular endurance and overall endurance.

Rowers have the biggest hearts of all athletes. Literally. I think the
reason for this is that the training is so diverse: they lift weights,
they do long distance training, and they also do tons of sprint work.
(CrossFit reminds me a bit of rowing training, actually.) I think that
introducing some rowing training will help you not only to get better
on the erg, but also to get better at the benchmark WODs.

When to Do the Erg Workout:
2-3 times per week, particularly after a heavy lift – not after a met-con workout, unless you take a healthy break and really feel up to it.

A lot of the lifts we do are ideally suited to rowing, and they are of more benefit to your rowing if you apply your lift directly to a rowing workout. Also, I don’t want you to jump right into a rowing workout without having warmed up.

Skip the rowing workout on metcon WOD days, and just do the WU (warm-up) or CD (cool-down) on the erg, if possible. (See the notes about the WU and CD, below.) We improve our form best when we are relaxed and going easy, so the WU and CD are great opportunities to focus on technique.

Training Program:
The following are variations on a theme. Depending on your schedule, your energy level, your familiarity with the erg, and your overall inclination, you can scale your workout along these lines. Do any of these 6 workouts at a 12-16 stroke rate. (If you haven’t just done a WOD, be sure to warm up [see notes on warming up, below]. Also, be sure to cool down once you’re done.)

Notation:

A x B’/C’ means “A times B minutes with C minutes’ rest in between

WOD 1: 10′ (i.e., ten minutes) – total time, including WU and CD: 30′

WOD 2: 15′ – total time, including WU and CD: 35′

WOD 3: 2 x 10’/3′ (i.e., two times ten minutes, with three minutes rest) – total time, including WU and CD: 43′

WOD 4: 20′ – total time, including WU and CD: 40′

WOD 5: 2 x 15’/3′-5′ – total time, including WU and CD: 53′-55′

WOD 6: 2 x 20’/5′ – total time, including WU and CD: 65′

Feel your body weight each stroke. This workout should be fairly difficult – you’ll have to maintain close to full pressure. Try to maintain a consistent pace throughout your piece; if you’re doing two pieces, try to get roughly the same scores on both pieces.

If you get way too tired, and need to slow your pace, drop your stroke rate a bit – not the pressure.

This workout should feel pretty hard. You should just be able to hold a conversation, but it shouldn’t be comfortable to do so.

We’ll discuss technique at the Lyceum, to be scheduled, but go ahead and get started on this regimen.

Warming Up and Cooling Down:
WU: women start at 3:20 or 3:30 splits, and every 300m knock 10″ (i.e., ten seconds) off the splits – i.e., gradually increase the pressure by 10″ increments, until you reach 2:20 or 2:30. Men start at 3:00 or 3:10, and end up at 2:00 or 2:10. Keep your stroke rate at 12-16 – the lower the better.

The warm-up should not be difficult, but the last 600m should get you breathing. Use the warm-up as an opportunity to relax and focus on your technique. If you want to do any drills (e.g., pause with your legs straight, hands and body over, during your recovery), this and the cool-down are the times to do it.

As a variation, if you feel the WU is too hard, you can hang out at the lighter pressures for longer than 300m, and simply not go all the way to the pace that I prescribed. Alternatively, if you feel it’s too easy, you can skip the slower paces and spend more time at the harder pressures. But remember: this is supposed to be pretty easy – just focus on technique and think of this as a nice, easy period before a very hard workout.

For the CD (the cool-down), simply do the WU in reverse.

Of course, if you’re sick of the erg or just prefer a different way of warming up, do that. Just please be sure to cool down on the erg – it’s a great way to acquire technical skill. This is true of the WU as well, but I just think from experience that the CD is more important in this regard.

For Further Information:
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me at the Lyceum or shoot me an email at Nick(at)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com