3 Rounds:
15 Overhead Squats with BB or PVC
5-8 Chin-Ups or Ring Rows
15 Minutes Handstand Practice
Fitness: Developing the Wall Kick Up
Performance: Wall Kick Ups and 1-5 HSPUs per round
4 Rounds NFT
20 Heavy Kettlebell Swings
10 Strict Knees to Elbows or Supine Knees To Elbows
If you can’t consistently get your knees above your armpits, perform the supine version.
2011 CrossFit Games Competitor Jessica Pamanian at the Subway Series
There are still a few slots left for this weekend’s CFSBK Wine Wasting! Check out the event page for more information!
How to Prioritize Training When Training 2-3x Per week
By Coach Fox
This question comes up pretty often at CrossFit South Brooklyn. As you are probably aware, we program for a 5 day workout week (M, W, Th, Sa, Su). Some of you, for various reasons, can not make it to 5 classes per week. So what’s an earnest athlete to do? Here are some ideas:
1. If you have another well equipped training space (home gym, decent globo-gym, etc…) make up the programmed work outs on your own. Unless you have a great training partner doing these with you, err on the side of caution when choosing load and intensity levels. It’s invaluable to have an intelligent pair of eyes watching your form.
* It’s never a good idea to Bench Press alone, and you shouldn’t Back Squat maximal loads alone either.
2. Stay active on days you don’t make it in to the gym. There are a TON of exercises you can do with your own body-weight and minimal equipment. Can you do 1/2 “Cindy” at the local playground? Why not? How about a 10 minute AMRAP of 20 Sit-Ups, 35 Double Unders, and 50 meter sprints? Also, check out Comprehensive Body Weight WOD pdf for a ton of other ideas. Fresh out of Foundations? Practice your Squats, Push Ups, Planks, Sit Ups, etc a few times per week. It’ll pay off in spades down the road.
3. If you’re coming to the gym 2-3 days per week then we recommend getting your squats in. At CFSBK we squat 2x per week for a reason. Getting stronger at the squat will get you better at everything in the gym, and a whole heck of a lot outside of it as well. Even if it’s not a “squat day” for us you can bet you’ll never be turned down by a coach when asking for a place to make up a squat exposure. Best case is to do it before you take a class, but after is OK too.
So, focus on the strength movements in the current cycle, prioritizing the squat variant. Remember – getting stronger will almost always mean getting better (just look at Chris Spealer’s performance at this year’s CrossFit Games) Use time before and/or after class to work on your particular weaknesses (not just double unders ‘cause you’re awesome at them and they look cool…). Are you chasing the sometimes elusive kipping pull up? Spend 5 minutes practicing. The kettlebell snatch? Spend time practicing. Does your conditioning suck? Run or row a few sprints after class or do a 1/4 Murph. Not sure what supplemental work you should be doing? Just ask one of us. It’s our greatest pleasure to see all of you become better athletes and achieve your goals.
_______________________
2010 CrossFit Games “Spirt Of The Games” recipient, Chris Spealer
Becoming A Supple Leopard With Kelly Starrett (New Book!)
Peter says
6am with D.O. Good times with the handstand and HSPU practice. Did 3-4 strict per round. Attempted a kipping HSPU on the last round and discovered I've completely forgotten how to do one. The kettlebell swing/K2E mashup produced a nice forearm pump.
Mgmt, on the question of supplemental work: I'd be forever grateful for mobility homework. Feels like I'm constantly fighting tight hips or hamstrings or shoulders. I mobilize before class and in the evening, but progress is minimal. I'm not the only one who looks with envy when a coach demonstrates a paleo chair. How can I get there?
crossfitsbk@gmail.com says
Good suggestion with Mobility Homework, Peter. Im going to think about that, maybe assigning a weekly MWOD? or something preWOD that relates to the movements, above and beyond what we'll prep for?
Also,
There are a pair of unclaimed weightlifting shoes in the office.. not sure who's they are, black ristos with checkered laces. Anyway- We've been holding onto them forever, they're about a size 10-11 or so.. any takers?
cjkaiser@post.harvard.edu says
Soooo excited for K Star book!
+1 for MWOD HW. Also, more broadly, I'd cast a vote for more integration of skills we practice during backoff week into regular programming, either via homework or some other mechanism. This is related to Fox's good essay on how to prioritize training for the 2-3x/week person. I confess that I am reluctant to come in at 6am to practice handstands when a) it doesn't feel like a "real" workout (and as a 2-3x/weeker I'm not fried from crush week) and b) we're not going to revisit handstands for another 6 weeks. I actually try to practice them a couple times a week, along w/ pullups, dips, etc. but it'd be great if we saw handstands more regularly throughout the cycle.
Ultimately, I think I just wish I could be more intense about my training regimen. Or maybe I just like handstands and wish we did more of them….
Noah says
Very cool idea Charlotte- I like the concept of playing around with a higher skill movement, and then using it in workouts of increasing intensity and difficulty as the cycle progresses. Nifty!
ryanmjoyce@gmail.com says
Everyone was at the gym this morning. I counted Fox, Lady Fox, Melo, David, Noah, Josh, and Nick at one point! I was there for the 8am with Fox after a glorious walk to the gym from South Slope.
Rowed 1000m, foam rolled, spent some time in a paleo chair while catching up with Melo.
WU with 45lb barbell and 5 chins per round. Love OHS. Don't know why, but I do.
I learned an important lesson about locking the elbows out while practice the kick up to the wall. After crashing into the ground I won't be making that mistake again. Much better at wall walk ups than I was six weeks ago, but I wish there had been a bit more time to go back to the kick ups at the end. It's something for an upcoming open gym session, I think.
A big thank you goes to Fox for his help as I experimented with with American KB swings and proper knees to elbows. 4 rounds of swings in (20kg Russian, 25kg Russian, 20kg American twice) with the supine knees to elbows. And one more big thank you to DO for finding and offering me a used pair of lifting shoes. Fox said they'll change my life–excited to test that hypothesis.
—–
My two cents on what I hope is a lively discussion on programming:
The teacher in me always comes out when the discussion on here turns to programming, periodization, and growth. While I understand, and to a certain extent believe in, the value CrossFit's philosophy places on randomization, a wealth of research has been done on how people learn and get better at things, and it shows that teachers who plan with an end in mind get better results. (Grant Wiggins' Understanding By Design is the book on this topic.)
If I were viewing the upcoming cycle as a unit I was planning for my students, I'd see it as such:
>>back-off week: an introduction to the movements and skills emphasized in the coming cycle, with a focus on coaches modeling the appropriate preparation and movements, and allowing athletes to experiment with the movements.
>>the cycle proper: this is the guided practice portion of the unit, in which athletes, under the careful eye of the coaches, perform the movements and revise and improve their practice. As in a classroom, athletes should be challenged to add weight/complexity after demonstrating mastery at lower weights/scaled movements.
>>crush week: this is the final assessment, the chance for the athletes to demonstrate the extent to which they have improved over the course of the cycle. Ideally, the athletes are proficient enough to require minimal intervention from coaches and to work at high capacities.
I think the four week cycles implement this philosophy very well. This past Crush Week was especially well utilized, as we were able to assess progress made over the course of the cycle, while doing challenging WODs, instead of just performing 5 challenging WODs. (As evidence, look at the recurring bench/row workouts, multiple variations of Annie, and 1K Grace after a cycle of C&J.) If we can consistently extend that to back-off week as well, then awesome.
This is not to mention the fact that we still get a healthy dose of randomization, particularly with two dedicated days for mixed-modal work on Thursdays and Sundays. (We still got to practice snatches and deadlifts because of them this cycle.) And there are opportunities to vary intensity from week to week without varying the movement, which is how the Performance folk seem to be working.
In short, kudos to all who pitch in with the programming at SBK, which, from what I've noticed visiting mainsite/other affiliates' websites, strikes a nice balance between CF philosophy and what has been proven to be pedagogically sound. Just another thing that makes SBK such a great place at which to workout.
rubikzube@gmail.com says
Best collection of bodyweight WODs ever. Thanks, Coach Fox!
JR says
Love the write up coach fox! I'm trying to do some of this stuff myself with sports on other days. squash 2x at least and even some runs (the…..HORROR!!)
Should be back in there after this weekend, and squats will be the cornerstone. I have done half cindys in the playground many times, I like your style, you handsome devil!
Looking forward to seeing everybody
crossfitsbk@gmail.com says
Great discussion on programming, I think everyone will be pleased with the upcoming cycle.
12pm Group Class
Warm-Up
DROMS/LAX
3 Rounds
15 OHS 15lbs
8 Chin Ups
Handstand kick ups
Headstand to Press Handstands
3 Rounds
KB Swings 2Pood
10 K2E Thick Bar
For my third round I played with some two KB swings.
This ended up being a little more tiring than I anticipated.
Keith W says
This might have been perfect for yesterday's 1 mile each partner run…
http ://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/us-olympic-track-star-runs-a-five-minute-mile-whil
Note space after http so link will go through.
asta says
keith – that link led me to also click on a link of ryan lochte and prince harry having a drunken swim race in a pool full of other drunk people in vegas and for some reason ryan lochte is wearing pants.
what just happened? 🙁
stellavision@gmail.com says
Handstands! Want!
I really should rest tomorrow (I only give myself one full day of rest a week), but I am deeply tempted to come in for a little 7 AM kick-up practice.
Peter says
@David, I was imagining weekly mobility homework assignments related to the movements being used that week. But now that you mention it, such assignments would clearly be handy pre-class as well.
Todd says
I've been working my way through the MWODs every day, and lucky for me 9 and 10 this morning were shoulder mobilizations for the overhead position, so I was super ready for the OHS and HSPU work today.
Squatted with the bar and hit 8 across for the chins, I feel like my OH position was pretty strong but I was feeling it up top and down below after 3×15. I should probably do more high-rep low-weight work on those because they're definitely one of my weakest movements.
For the inverted stuff, worked through 3 kick-ups to get a little more grace/control of the movement, then 3 sets of 3 HSPU, then tried a few kipping HSPU, which i never quite managed to figure out before, and hit 1 or 2 for each set. Attempted spotted freestanding ones with Melo afterward and was too cashed out to even hit the lockout successfully.
24KG swings and K2E for 3 rounds for the finisher before class ended.
robis@robis.org says
Strength Cycle: Intensity Squat. Press and Deadlift.
Squat: 340×2 Failed on the 3rd rep.
Very disappointed. This would have been a PR for a triple. I have tracked towards this TWICE for the last 9 weeks. First two reps were good. The 3rd just did not bounce or go anywhere. I'll have it next week.
Press: 140x5x3
Fine.
Dead: 355x5x3
This is a 5RM PR. That's cool.
I skipped a workout and added an extra days rest in there this last week as I've felt pretty beat up. Maybe it was enough, maybe not. I have two days off and then will hit my volume day Sunday which will be telling. Must stay positive and visualize 345×3 success.
RonW says
i'm used to crawling up on my head and then pushing up into HSPUs. it's quite ugly but I'm working on it. great session today, practicing locking my elbows out more and more.
did a 20kg KB for two rounds then 24kg. my forearms seem to bear the brunt of it.
i have to admit i'll definately miss a couple backoff days to get a couple extra crush days in. guess it all balances out in the end 🙂