1-1-1-1-1
Post Loads to comments.
Compare to 9.3.09
Accessory Work
PWOD: A. Max Muscle Ups, B. Muscle Up Practice, C. Ring Dip, Pull-Up Strength Work
WU: 3 Rounds NFT
20 Pulls on the Erg
15 Partner Medball Tosses
10 Scap Flys on the Wall
Sameer and Vadim of CFLIC work an L-Sit
Today's Classes are at 9am and 10am and are both All Level.
Because I feel like we didn't get enough out of this the first time around and we just had two of our athletes participate in competitions…
Do you have a background in competitive athletics?
What are the mental and physical benefits of competition?
Do you consider our daily WOD classes competition?
115-125(pr)-130(f)-115-125
Struggled with muscle ups.
Thanks for the help Paul and Ryan.
45×5 85×3 105 125(DQ’d by Dave for lifting my heels) 115(pr) 120(pr) 125f 125f 45×5 125f
Thanks Paul for the technique pointers.
Took another stab at Annie afterwards. 14:40, two minutes faster than yesterday. Rawk.
115, 125, 130, 135F, 130. press numbers have seen better days, it is my most inconsistent lift. muscling up didn’t go so great either, but I still had a great time at class today, which counts for something :).
ryan and vincent, good lifting with y’all as always.
I was a competitive runner and rower.To me, a benefit of competition as that it keeps you results and goal oriented. You can only compete if you can compare, and you can only compare what you can measure.
Press: 115,125,135,(140F) 125, 125. These get hard fast. Great to be back after a week off. Did 10 minutes on the rower. Thanks Malcolm for the kip tips. Is it just me or are the scheduling changes making anyone else nuts?
I was involved in competitive sports until my early 20s. Crossfit is definitely the first thing I’ve seen since then that has spoke to that side of me.
It is competitive for me, although in a way that’s hard to put in to words. I don’t feel like I’m competing against anyone per se (although it is *really* frustrating to be still stuck on the first 75 double unders of a DU/push jerk WOD while people are finishing the entire workout). I am, though, competing against the clock, and against myself, and (perhaps most of all) against my perceptions of my own limitations/capacities.
37x342x347x350x150x3 (pr)
I was really happy with this, as it was my first time with the press in a while, and I wasn’t sure what to aim for. Thanks to Asta, Rebecca, and Tamar for your help and encouragement. Also did some dumbbell presses, then had a rowing lesson w/ Nick, which was amazingly helpful, as always.
I played a little basketball and ran cross country and track. I was never that competitive, but I always liked the feeling of being part of a team. At CF I get a similar feeling, like everyone is helping each other get better. I’m competing against my own numbers, at least for now. I don’t know about you guys, but living in NYC feels like a competitive sport to me most of the time…between work, the subway, and dealing with my landlord. Being at CF or running outside helps me tune out all of that insanity.
WOD: PRESS 1 1 1 1 1
65*5 (WARMUP) 85, 95, 105, 110pr, 115f
as usual the press is the hardest lift. improvements are coming but verrrrry slowly.
WOD: DEADLIFT 1 1 1 1 1
135*5 (WARMUP) 247, 267, 280, 290pr
actually failed on my first attempt at 247, probably didnt warmup enough. the 290 was shaky but it counts. trying to get to the 300 club. nice lifting with carlos on both lifts.
i played soccer, cricket and basketball as a kid but not since my teenage years. competition helps push you farther than you would on your own and working with a team definitely helps on those days where you’re dragging. i’m somewhat competitive with the WODs because i see where everyone else is and i figure thats where i should be. and i push to get there.
135,145,150,155pr,160fFeeling good and tired after 4 straight days of lifting heavy. I think I’ll find time to do a Crossfit total this week, and hopefully break 800.
As far as competitive sports go, I wrestled and played football and baseball. I coach wrestling now. I had the same routine for preparing for a wrestling match for many years, and I still use versions of that routine to prepare for heavy lifts. I would describe the routine as an attempt to wake up every cell in my body, and to flood energy into my legs, arms, and especially my hands. I try to cultivate and then focus rage into a single bright point that I can manipulate completely. I also use visualization of non-lifting related goals to summon energy. One of my goals for this winter is to climb and ski this line: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=65679&d=1254796230 on Mount Washington called Duchess. I specifically visualize myself smoothly navigating the crux about a third of the way down, using the same leg strength I’m about to use for a heavy squat or deadlift. I might even whisper the word “duchess, duchess, duchess” to myself. At other times I’ll remind myself of a failure I don’t wish to repeat.
I don’t look at heavy lifts as a competition. They’re more of a personal struggle. No amount of stomping and screaming would have helped me press as much as Chris today. For met-cons, however, having someone fast next to me is a huge advantage, because losing sucks, and losing by a lot sucks even more. Met-cons are an extended mental battle against giving up or coasting to the finish, and the primitive desire to best one’s compatriots is an essential weapon. This is especially important when faced with a movement that I hate. Thrusters and burpees are much easier with an audience.
135, 150, 165, 175F, 170F, 170F
165 was previous PR from about 6 months back, so I’m OK with it. Haven’t done much (any?) strict pressing recently so I wasn’t sure where I’d be. Really wanted to get 175…next time.
I havn’t played much organized sport in my life. Mostly pick-up football, basketball, rugby, softball, etc. I was extremely non-athletic as a boy. As in, the fat kid who was picked last in most things. I took to lifting weights as a young teen (thank you, Arnold), and got at least strong enough to be of use in football. I was always better in any sport on the defensive side than the offensive. Tackling is fun.
As an adult I’ve done some endurance races in competition but these are more of a personal battle than a real competition with anyone else. While I may want to perform better than my last time I’ve never entered a race with the illusion of winning.
I agree with Ben on his max effort/met-con theme. I tend to internalize when trying to move heavy weight, me and the bar. But I love the energy given and recieved during a grueling met-con.
Right now at 36, CrossFit is my sport. I feel at home and love the whole enchillada. Speaking of, coming soon…TACO TOUR!!! Tacos for time, post your fav spot.
175! Jess you’re a MONSTER.
Ben – Me want to ski Duchess!Me want to be your sherpa. Let’s talk in the gym!
competition is always a good thing. I think back to yesterday doing Annie with Dan. I know that Dan will own me in a straight up race, but the race was on none the less and I PR’d by over a minute! After the WOD there wasn’t any discussion of who beat who, rather a communal feeling of going to battle together. Of work done and accomplishments shared.We are all a team. We pick each other up. We push each other beyond our self imposed limits.Competition at this level becomes something else. A form of love.
Uh…”Jess” was actually me. Looks like her info was on my acct from her last post.
Your’e right though, Shane. She is a monster.
Also for me today, 5 unbroken muscle ups. A new PR.
Press:45×5 (wu)85×5 (wu)105x1115x1135x1155x1175x1
I do not have a background in competitive athletics. I practiced Judo when I was a kid and I did enjoy competing in matches. I made it all the way up to brown belt and I also tried out for the Empire State Games when I was 15.
The right kind of competition keeps you sharp. Among other sports I believe that CrossFit, and more specifically CFSBK, fosters the right kind of competition. We all work very hard to beat our PR’s and improve our overall conditioning. We use the clock, this blog, and the support of our teammates as tools to boost our energy, knowlege, and our overall performance. I often feel like those who come in last actually gain the most because the class will actually stop whatever they are doing and focus all of their energy on that one individual. I have been there and I have never wanted to let my team or myself down by not completing the WOD. By default, I get better.
The best thing is that at the end of each and every class, everyone is a winner!
Boo ya!
my beard is growing
Press: (45×5 65×3)75, 85, 95, 105F, 100F
95 was my previous PR and I really didn’t think I was going to best it today because last time it was very ugly and we haven’t been doing much press work. Today it went up nicely so that is a distinct improvement. I think I might have gotten 100 if I hadn’t jumped straight to 105. I’m never sure with press whether it is best to go for it or be conservative.
Did two consecutive muscle-ups for the first time, but don’t have the hang of the bottom external rotation position. Didn’t get to play with it further because I was learning to snatch with Margie. GREAT lesson. Snatching feels beautiful.
I played basketball in middle school and non-competitive soccer my freshman year of high school (we were one huge co-ed team of 60 people that split into four teams every saturday to play each other.) I got chronic fatigue in the midst of high school so I didn’t really have the opportunity to play sports after that. For about 10 years prior to crossfit I didn’t do anything that can really be considered a sport (although tango often felt competitive, such ego involved.)
I generally enjoy competition, but it really depends on the people I’m with. If everyone is a good sport, I like to compete, but if people take it too seriously I end up feeling badly whether I win or lose. I’m not so nice that I won’t push myself, but I end up feeling unhappy and less motivated if I feel like people are competing negatively with me.
I definitely pay attention to other people’s performance in WODs and try to catch them – it’s a great feeling to see someone else, think they are strong and fast, and then achieve the same thing yourself. It helps me build goals and know what to aim for, but at the same time I revel in other people’s performance gains. I think this is part of what I love about CFSBK, people may be competing and trying to best each other, but generally they’ll turn around and encourage their competition and help them win.
I guess my view is that it is highly improbable that I will ever be the best in the world at anything. I do my best, I compete and use other people’s performance as motivation but I don’t struggle with that threatened and negative type of competitive impulse because I already know I’m not the best. What difference does it make if I’m being beaten by someone in the room or someone 1000 miles away?
My background is in whiskey and cigarettes, neither skills were able to lead me into any lucrative career and so after years of fine tuning those skills, I finally gave up one and drastically scaled back the other.
In my early teens I was a baseball fanatic, but an eye accident forced me to quit (depth perception is crap with one good eye), then there was the elbow accident which just reinforced my aversion to athleticism, so there was essentially no fitness activity from the ages of around 15-35. As some of you know, a photo taken of me with my very fit younger brother, where I was obviously falling apart, turned me around in a big way.
As for the competition, I find it’s much more with myself. I don’t have a killer attitude when running close with another during a wod. Rarely does that push me forward, but if it’s a matter of beating a past score, that will drive me. I like you all, I want you to win, me on the other hand, I want to destroy that bastard. Too much information?
Anyway, I went to the Y, which actually didn’t totally suck since everyone must have been watching football. The weight room was practically empty the whole time I was there.
Deadlifts:285x5x5
Press:95×3, 115, 125, 135, 140, 140
I hadn’t managed a 140 in a long time and don’t think I’ve ever managed it twice in one day. Both were fights, but both went up.
Dumbbell Bench70x5, 80×3, 90×2, 95F, 70x7the first two sets I intentionally went with small sets, hoping to get a set of 3 at 90. Still haven’t managed to pull a 95. The dumbbells at the Y go up to 100, so you know what the objective is here.
2000m row7:42.8Biceps burning, probably using too much arms, legs were still shot from the deadlifts. I really need to pay attention to all the rowing knowledge being shared by Nick. I’m clueless about pacing myself properly.
Casual 5 miles on the stationary bike as an excuse to watch some football (giants were getting smoked)
20 round tabata sit-ups maintaining 11 reps per round.
The end.
Press:22×5, 42×5, 62×1, 72×1, 77×1, 82f, 80×1
Annie (w/Jess & Joe–Thanks, guys!)
17:15
Grrr….those double-unders. I really suck at ’em. This was worse (by a lot) than my very first Annie (15:47) The worst part is having the energy, but not the skill to go faster.
As I said, I rode horses competitively, and I liked it and hated it. I think when I was young, I didn’t perform so well in competition. I was convinced I was going to fail before I even started and it seemed like winning was the whole point, so consequently I didn’t have much fun a lot of the time. I notice this with the boy. He’s so obsessed with the outcome, that he doesn’t really focus on the process. I think this will change, but I just wonder how I can help him through it.
WUerg increasing pace by 10sec every 300m+ prescribed WU
PRESS(barx5, 65×5, 95×5) 115 135 155 175 185PR
as always good lifting with bjorn and adam.david gave advice which really helped me focus, holding my breath when first gripping the bar and then going for it. this helped my lifts more than i could have imagined. 200, i’m coming for you!
MU practice. transitions. very close.
i swam competitively for most of my youth. although it meant most of those years training 6 hours a day 6 days a week, it’s helped me a lot in life and kept me out of trouble.when i stopped swimming i did nothing for the longest time. i went to shit. sort of not really tried my damndest to get back in shape with marathon running and triathlons and got angry when i was not getting the return i expected.
i push myself with lifting and metcons. i try to challenge myself each time i do a WOD. i try not to get too pissed when i don’t do well, but do analyze what i need to do next time to get better. with the competition background i try to approach WODs sensibly. not expecting PR’s each time and accepting that. very fucking reluctantly.
it was not till starting CrossFit that i seriously feel close to the level of fitness i was once. this shit is special!
I played a lot of street ball as a kid in high school, mostly basketball. Then I discovered dope-nuff said. Today I love skiing, specially with my kids and the competition is non existent-they smoke me right off the mountain. I love the WOD’s but I am learning my limitations and finishing in the bottom percentile doesn’t bother me too much. Sometimes just finishing is enough.
65, 75, 85, 87, 88.
Played HS football and soccer and a TON of street hoops from 18-40. WoDs are WAY more fun. They are all competition and collaboration… a main feature of the Outward Bound philosophy.
.DMG: It would seem your Lucy has taken a shine to my Milo. She was very cute with him.
No competitive sports background (surprised?), and I think Matt’s probably checked my scalp for antennae while I’ve slept, he’s so shocked that he ended up with someone so completely unexposed to anything athletic ever when I was growing up — there was an emphasis on being healthy, eating healthy, being active (I swam a lot and danced), but no sports. (Parents were hippies.) Dorkily, my competitiveness was always relegated to things that didn’t involve balls (har) or dirt mounds — theater, performing, arts and academics, writing, and other stereotypes reinforced on the TV show “Glee.” I won a book-reading competition if that gives you any idea of how I spent my time as a kid, and joined a theater performing arts school because it enabled me to get out of an extra year of gym. (before that I would show up to gym, get marked for attendance, and then sneak back into the locker room and read.) sooo at xfit, usually I see people way more advanced than me, and I’m like “You got that, I’m cool.” I’m just trying to somehow compete with my otherwise-complacent self and take the longview approach to motivation — hopefully in the future I’ll be better, fitness-wise, than I was a year ago, six months ago, four months ago, 2 weeks ago.
That said, I PR’ed at 45lbs today (thanks for the help, guys), and, fittingly, somehow jacked up my neck, so I’ll now go safely read a book or something.
GREAT quad of ladies lifting today–thanks Ariel, Laurel, and Deb for coaching & encouragement, and Margie & David for some very helpful technique pointers.
This is a fun period where every lift is a PR since I’ve never lifted heavy before…
Press:WU: 45×5, 65x3WO: 75×1, 85×1, 95×1 (PR), 105 F, 85×1, 100F.
Like Laurel, I feel I could have gotten the 100 if we’d gone there first.
BTW I noticed that I can deadlift Nick now. Handy, maybe.
As for competition: What Ben said about metcons, absolutely. I think I got to 10 minutes on the barbell bear last week before I fell apart b/c I was next to and pacing off of Dan. (Turned out Dan was only doing half the workout, that @(#*!) And what Laurel said about lifting. That Jess pulled 225 yesterday on DLs shows me that I can get there, too.
Tam, Lucy and Milo had fun today. She asked afterwards if she and Milo could have a play date.
Hello everyone. Looking forward to being back home tomorrow.
Like Tamar, I was always skipping gym as a kid. I think I weighed about 100 pounds until I was 25. Slowly started to gain weight after that but didn’t start to get fit until around 2003 or so when I got into rock climbing. Never did anything competitive, fitness-wise until I started CrossFit though.
I am highly competitive though, having started a company, aiming to destroy my competition, and then competing nationally in the RallyAmerica national championship. What Laurel said resonates:
” I think this is part of what I love about CFSBK, people may be competing and trying to best each other, but generally they’ll turn around and encourage their competition and help them win.”
When I started in rally that was a key component of what I loved about it. You might be in service and you are in second place and the guy in first place needs to “borrow” an a-arm so he can continue the race, and you will lend it to him because it’s the spirit of the event to do so. Of course if you don’t lend it to him it would be within your rights and you would win, but that’s just not how the game is played.
Similarly, here I want to win because I want to be awesome, not because I want my competition to suck. If my competition is awesome, then that just means I have to be that much -more- awesome. It makes life hard, but that’s the point, isn’t it?
I was the small kid. Played sports as a child but only in the perfunctory sense (I played catcher in T-ball, enough said). Stopped the limited amount I did after encountering a parent (not mine) who had a rather negative version of competitive spirit related to children’s sports. I did some informal competitive things in late middle school and early high school, like roller blading and paintball (and roller blade paintball). But by the middle of high school even that pretty much stopped and I basically didn’t have any regular physical activities.
Jump forward a number of years and a period of vegetarianism later and you have me in mid college weighing in at 115 pounds, a poster boy for skinny fat.
This next Thursday marks the two year anniversary of the first Crossfit workout that I wrote down (had badly attempted a few before hand, with poor success). I did a Crossfit total of 390 lbs. Kind of crazy how much I have changed, it gives me a lot of hope for the future.
Workout results for today. 45×5, 65×5, 95×3. 115, 120, 125F, 125F, 125F, 125F. 125 was my old PR back a few months ago. This was a pretty rough weekend, not matching PR’s from this summer. But I think I figured out the reason tonight when I weighed myself and I had inexplicably lost a lot of weight. I think I am going back to the half-gallon of milk a day for a while.
One bright note for today was that I managed to string together 4 muscle-ups which was a nice PR. Although I need to get better at extending and rotating out at the bottom.
Brian (and everybody else), I’m always looking for backcountry ski partners, whether they are comfortable in “you fall, you die” situations or if they have never skied outside a resort. I hope to ski 40+ days this years, and prefer to earn my turns. If you’re a skier, and you’ve never skinned and climbed your way to the top of a mountain, and skied down on wild snow, well, you’ve only experienced a small fraction of what the sport has to offer. Backcountry skiing is to resort skiing, as Crossfit is to lateral raises, lat pull-downs and cardio.
Ben– that sounds awesome, count me in. I have a ski haus up near mt snow for 6 weekends this winter, dunno if that is near any good backcountry. i plan to learn to tele this winter, so i am down with earning my turns.
i have never skiied real backcountry but i’ve gone off-piste at alpine in tahoe extensively.
So first today’s wod:Press: 62, 72, 77(PR), 82f, 80f, 78f
I haven’t really worked on presses since I’ve started crossfit so this is definitely one of my weaker movements. 77 was hard but I know I can go higher next time. Very encouraging to see Tam lift strong!
Afterwords did Annie with Joe and Tam…14:07
My DU’s were ok but the situps were my time suck. Need to get better!
Then after that, worked more on Pullups. Did 3 sets of 5 strict with the blue band. Later did kipping practice with the white band. *Was able to get 3 unassisted kipping pullups!!!*** This feels awesome! I realize I will only get better with practice!
Ok, as for competition, I am so freakin’ competitive. I have to admit that I love comparing my scores/WODs to everyone elses in hopes of coming close to where they’re at. The last time I was a “competitive athlete” was in high school when I played soccer, basketball and softball. I would have had a college scholarship in softball but I turned it down because I didn’t want to stay in Ohio. Overall, I’m still incredibly competitive and I like to think of myself as an athlete. About 6 years ago, I lost over 25lbs. and once again felt more able to do the things I did in high school. Now, with crossfit, I’m doing even more. Sure, I look and compare to other folks performance and try to strive for that, but ultimately, I’m trying to beat myself. If I can do that, I succeed. If I can also beat someone else’s PR, than I’m pretty darn good (especially if I can beat the gents, sorry boys). I can’t take the competitiveness out of me. If we play Monopoly together, I intend on winning. Ultimately, I want to be the best.
Since my sports have always been team sports, I love the CFSBK “team”. I have received nothing but encouragement, support and motivation since joining this group and it makes me want to do nothing less than strive to be the best that I can be…no matter what level I’m on.
Oh, and I also wanted to say that Dharma (Chris’ daughter/my step-daughter for those that don’t know) had an awesome time today at CFSBK. Before crossfit kids, she did a modified “Annie” with: 50 single jumps/25 situps, 40 jumps/20 SU, 30 jumps/15 SU, 20 jumps/10 SU, 10 jumps/5 SU. She did this in 8:17. She loves crossit and we can’t be more excited to get her physically active. Thank you to Shane and David and for welcoming her and teaching her such wonderful things!!!
Dharma is SOO cute, btw. I told her I was kind of afraid of the Where The Wild Things Are monsters (because I am! Their faces TERRIFY me!), and she was just looked at me and went “Uh… WHY?” Fair enough.
.DMG: I would love to have Lucy over for a Playdate. Or we could meet somewhere. Let’s make it so!tamsonw(at)gmail(dot)com.
Sports have been a huge part of my life, my dad was a jock, my mom was a dancer and my brothers were both super jocks.
I was never really good at any sports, but I always loved them. I have also played an organized version of every sport.Street hockey, volleyball, wrestling, jiu jitsu, boxing, tae kwon do, lacrosse, basketballand then in high school I got way more serious with- football, soccer and swimming.
I lost 40 lbs before I went away to college while training for lifeguarding. For the next 4 years I got really into rugby, and in the summers I competed in lifeguard competitions.
I have always been competing, but for 4 years I took some time off and just competed with my peers in the comedy community.
Until as some of you know, I joined the Village Lions in the fall and have been playing rugby, I would never have been able to do it without crossfit training. I have lost 45 lbs since starting with CFSBK in January.
I scored my first try in 5 years on saturday, all because I am stronger, faster and mentally tougher than I have ever been.
I don’t consider WODs to be competitive, it is just a means to be better on the pitch. I push myself to be able to run faster and hit harder.
THIS IS TOO LONG OF A POST.I AM SORRY!
it’s interesting reading everyone’s backgrounds. I swam year round as a kid and did martial arts, but never played any team sports. In my 20s I did mostly distance running.
I am competitive, but I always feel like I’m competing against myself rather than others.
Gabrus, congratulations man!PS-We peeped you on 30 Rock on Thursday. Making moves, son.
Wanted to also say great work to the Nick and Scott L. who competed this weekend in their events and to Sgt. Voigt for completing his level 1 complete with a great Fran time.
Tam and David McG, a Lucy/Milo summit is just about the most adorable idea ever.
Jess & Fox, it’s our pleasure to have Dharma at the gym, she’s quite the athlete and I look forward to getting her rolling with the more advanced stuff. We’ll talk more about that.
WOD 3×595, 100, 105 (2), 100, 110
I posted something earlier about wrestling and soccer but lost it all. Generally, I like the focus that competition brings physically and mentally. I don’t view the daily WOD as competitions, more of personal challenges to improve, whether in technique, speed or weight.