Build to a heavy triple on the Deadlift in 15 minutes. Perfect form. Any deviation of neutral spine is a NO REP
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5 Rounds For Time:
250m Row
10 Kipping Pull-Ups
30 Double Unders
Alternate rounds with a partner so your rest is about 1:1. Your score is your total working time for the 5 rounds not including rest.
Here is a photo of Ayana – a Native American name that means “Eternal Blossom.” She was born at 0555 hours on 12.23.12. You guys will see her soon! Noor and I (Samir C) are well and ecstatic!
Christmas Schedule
- Christmas Eve, Monday Dec 24: 6am, 7am, 8am, 12pm classes normal. 5-8pm Open Gym
- Christmas Day, Tuesday Dec 25: Special 9:30am CrossFit Group Class WOD only
“Set Your Back!” But What’s My Back?
by Christian Fox
Your spine has 24 vertebrae divided into 3 segments; 7 cervical (your neck), 12 thoracic (mid/upper-back), and 5 lumbar (low-back). Below this is your sacrum, which are actually 5 fused vertebrae, and below that is your coccyx (or tailbone). On the posterior side of your spine, there are facet joints that facilitate movement of the segments. In between the vertebrae you have discs housing a gel-like substance that act as shock absorbers between segments. Now importantly, just behind the discs and just in front of the facet joints lays your spinal canal. The spinal canal is where your spinal cord and all your nerves are housed. Every nerve in your body comes from some point in that spinal canal, ergo, it’s pretty freaking important. Wrapping around the spine are also ligaments, tendons, and muscles that work to both mobilize and protect your spine, and blood vessels that nourish all of this tissue.
Hopefully having this info and picture in your mind can help to clarify a few things about both strengthening your back and preventing injury. Any insult to the tissue around the spine can be painful. Muscle strains are the most common. These guys are well suited to move your spine into a safe position and keep it there under load. However, once the position is compromised, those same muscles are not that good at getting back there. So if you set your back well on a dead lift but then lose it on the way up, your spinal erectors may very well be barking at you for a few days as a reminder. Similarly, if you lack the flexibility to even start in a good position for the dead lift, you are also at risk for strain. If you strain your back, ice can help for the first 24-48 hrs, and ice and heat after that. Most strains are not serious.
The position your spinal cord wants you to maintain while under load follows the natural curve in your spine and provides the most room for the nerves inside. That position is: a strong arch at the lumbar, a slight arch at the thoracic, and a slight natural arch at the cervical. *(While the thoracic can be slightly rounded (or flexed) in standing posture, an arched (or extended) spine up top will have all the spinal erectors working together and result in a better arch down low). The discs of your spine are put at risk of bulging or tearing when the spine is flexed under load (a rounded back on a dead lift), or worse, flexed and rotated. If a disc bulges or ruptures, the gel from inside it can put pressure on the nerves and blood vessels in the spinal column, resulting in sometimes debilitating pain. Once a disc is ruptured it will NEVER be the same. Good posture, in the gym and out, are paramount to minimizing pain in this case.
The flip side of rounding your back can also be problematic. Over arching, or hyper-extending, your back can cause the cartilage in your facet joints to wear away. This can cause or exacerbate spinal arthritis (spondylosis). Worst-case scenario here is that bones spurs occur and either press against the spinal cord or fuse with other vertebrae. Neither sounds good.
Get into and maintain a good position for your lifts. If you can’t, then don’t load weight on the bar until you can. Perform exercises like static back extensions to strengthen your spinal muscles so you can keep that back set. Work on mobility consistently, and limit ROM as needed until you can maintain a set back throughout a full ROM. Remember to always practice good posture in and out of the gym.
The bad and the beautiful
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Zombies in NYC! AMC
6am with the Lady Fox. Worked up to 365 x 3 on the deadlift. Thought about 405 but felt my back start to get soft so I called it. Then worked with Peter on the metcon for a total individual time was 9:57 (fastest was 1:35, slowest was 2:11). Pullups slowed me down the most since my grip was fried from yon rower (no matter how loosely I held the handle). The rest intervals made this one suck even worse in my opinion.
Can I also just say how much I appreciate the holiday hours at the gym? Thanks coaches! It was nice to get an early workout in so I can get back to fattening myself up as much as possible for my pre-challenge photos.
Ayana is beautiful. Well done, Noor and Samir! Congratulations.
6am with Jess. Worked up to 355 on the deadlifts. First 2 reps felt great. The 3rd had the tiniest bit of oh-this-is-heavy. Total time of 11:59 on the metcon. Betz is a double-under machine. I am not. Something to work on in the new year. Did some handstand progression work in between deadlifts. Felt a couple of seconds of freestanding balance.
8am with Jess. Worked up to 255 on the deadlifts, a PR of 40lbs! Struggled to maintain back position on the last rep.
Total time of 15:21 on the metcon. Had to scale pullups to 6 because they were just not there after the rowing. Kind of shocked me, actually. Usually I can get 10-14 strict, but I got *3* in my first set.
At home for a WOD at CrossFit Garden City.
Walked in to see a long triplet on the whiteboard:
21 DB snatches each arm (non-alternating), 55lb
21 HSPU (scaled to 12 with abmat)
400m run
15 DB snatches each arm
15 HSPU (scaled to 9)
600m run
9 DB snatches
9 HSPU (scaled to 6)
800m run
Finished in 21:52. HSPU are still a really new movement for me, so this was good practice kicking up and setting my hands and body correctly. Compensated for the HSPU by Rx'ing the snatches, which were tough. Runs were a nice little break in between rounds.
After this, finishing off the New Year with some drop-ins in western PA and North Carolina. See you SBKers in the New Year!
Noon with the Foxes, Arturo & the biggest class I've ever seen.
Worked up to 135# on the deadlifts. That's a PR by quite a few pounds. Could've gone heavier, but ran out of time.
Metcon with Amy – 28:20, so about 14 minutes each. One day I'll be able to get through rowing without someone pointing out that I'm doing it wrong. One day in the distant future…
Congrats to Samoor, two great humans. I love the name.
I hit a globo gym in Michigan today and got a 10 class card that doesn't expire for $25. What?
2k easy warmup row. A dude came up and asked me if I was a real rower (thanks Nick. Crash Bs!).
Box squats. I'm focusing this cycle on killing off my right knee wobble. I won't move up in weight unless the form is perfect (probably how I should always operate).
45×5, 135×5, 185×5, 225×3, 255×1, 275×1. 185×10.
Knee moved a little at 275, so I did a drop down set to finish off.
Press. 45×5, 95×5, 135×3. 155×5, 155×3. 135×7.
The plan was to go for 155x5x3 but it wasn't there today.
Deadlift. 135×5, 225×5, 275×3, 325×3.
325 felt hard, I was a little worn out.
It's distracting working out in front of mirrors. It's also distracting watching people quarter squat and round back deadlift.
Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays.
Ben
Actually wound up doing the same WOD as Ryan at Garden City. GREAT long WOD. DId the kettlebell snatches with a 24kg bell. This was actually the first time ive done this movement. It was really taxing to go from these to the HSPUs.
finished in 21:15.
Got a vacation WOD in at crossfit Cedar Park in Austin TX.
They had a cute Christmas themed worked out where they gave WOD "presents" to different people, so different people ended up doing different WODs. Kind of hectic, but fun. I ended up with "Scrooge"
3 rounds for time:
800 M run
25 V-sits with 14# ball
25 wallball with 14# ball
25 push-up
finished in 27:53.
The capped this off with some deadlifts, worked up to 245×5. Felt real good to pull something heavy. Feel like I have not done that in a while.
P.S. CFSBK > CFCP
WOD in the mountains – first time skiing Tremblant – tres chic. Sticker-bombed the place sumpin' fierce. CFSB in the house! Merry everything to everyone.
fox i know youll never believe it but i DID read the above before coming in tonight!! argh.
Congratulations Noor and Samir! Beautiful!!!
Did a version of the "12 days of Christmas" today at the newish and pretty great Crossfit Syracuse with my cousin and a LOT of home for the holidays drop ins:
1 Pistol Per Leg
2 One Legged Box Jumps (3-45lbs Plates/2-45lbs Plates)
3 Strict Pullups
4 Burpee Box Jumps (24/20)
5 KB Swings (53/36)
6 Wall Ball (20/15)
7 One Arm DB Push Press (45/30)
8 Four Point Pushups
9 KB Goblet Squats (53/36)
10 Weighted AbMat Situps (20/15)
11 Plate Ground to OH (45/25)
12 Burpees
Capped at 30 min and I had to burn through round 12 to finish in 29:34. Brutal. Coach/owner Dan Goldberg said he did the California Strength oly seminar down at our box this summer!
Christmas eve open gym with Noah
Snatch
58x1x5 on the minute
65x1x5 on the minute
50x1x8 on the :30, alternating power and full
Felt best in a while
Clean and Jerk
80x1x5 on the minute
90x1x5 on the minute
70x1x8 on the :30, all power clean + split jerk
Some applied cues from Brian D (from last week) helped me tonight
5 Rounds for time
250m Row
10 Pull Ups
30 Double Unders
9:57 total work time
Did this with DH which provided me a bit less than 1:1 rest. Actually felt pretty good save for my forearms feeling smoked on rounds 3-5. Splits at about 1:45/50 and all movements unbroken except for round 4 doubles. Fun to WOD with Dan, that may have been the first time!
Hitting Crossfit Madrid tomorrow — for the second time this week!