CrossFit South Brooklyn

Established 2007

“Fran”

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21-15-9 Rep rounds for time of:
Thrusters, 95/65
Kipping Pull-Ups

Scale the workout appropriately and work on your discomfort tolerance today.

Post time and Rx to comments.
compare to 1.30.13 and 12.2.12

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Some recent PR’s This Cycle:

We’ve finished the primary training and lifting portion of this cycle. Here are some recent PRs that made it to the CFSBK leaderboards and Accomplishments boards. Did you also PR this cycle? If so let is know in the comments. Also, let us know what you thought of the last 6 weeks of training.

Olympic/Quick Lifts:
305lb Jerk: Coach Josh
315lb Clean: Coach Josh
235lb Snatch: Jake L
286lb Clean and Jerk: Jake L
247lb Clean and Jerk: Matt K
123lb Clean and Jerk: Billy K
225lb Push Press: DH3
100lb Push Press: Stella Z
100lb Push Press: Kristen H

Power Lifts:
622lb Deadlift: Nick F
500lb Back Squat: Nick F
375lb Front Squat: Nick F
1,362lb PLT: Dave B
1,201lb PLT: Avi S
455lb Back Squat: Avi S
1,205lb CFT: Christian R
550lb Deadlift: Christian R
220lb Press: Christian R
185lb Back Squat: Steph P
275lb Deadlift: Serene
230lb Deadlift: Steph P
230lb Deadlift: Bethany E
245lb Deadlift: Jen S
225lb Back Squat: Charlotte K
255lb Back Squat: Matt C
200lb Back Squat: Stella Z
285lb Deadlift: Yoshi S

Rowing
7:28 2K Row: Katie M
7:57.2 2K Row: Jen S
6:30.2 2K Row: Christian R
6:3X 2K Row: Monty

Benchmarks:
6:32 Annie: Steph P
7:24 Annie: Samir C
8:33 Annie: Nate P
16R+5,2 Cindy: Coach Melo
14R+5,6 Cindy: Teresa
8:43 Diane: Coach Jess
34 Unbroken Doubles: Yoshi
24 Unbroken Doubles: Jen S
50 Unbroken Doubles: Whitney H
41 Unbroken Doubles: Lauren B

Tacos:
9 Tacos: Courtney H
8 Tacos: Jen S

___________________
Lumo Back provides real time feedback on your posture.
Lets Play 52 Pick-Up, Paleo Style Robb Wolf
I’m Not Trying To Be That Diesel Elizabeth Akinwale
The Art of Imperfect TED
Olympic Fixture Since 708 B.C. (Wrestling) Will Be Dropped NYT

Comments

  1. Reposting this since it might not have been seen last night:

    MGMT — I just tried to do my end-of-challenge submission (are you surprised that the anal-retentive girl is doing it RIGHT NOW?) and ran into a problem. The form will not allow you to submit any answers of "killed it" — if you pick that for any category, it says "This field is required. Please enter a value." as if you had left it blank. I tried switching to another answer and switching back, but that didn't work.

    Help please?

  2. Fran on Tuesday 6am with lady fox. I had no idea what to expect, it's been probably a year and a half or more since I last did Fran. 7:22 Rx'd, a 40-second PR. Happy about that; not happy about the 80 seconds it took me to do my last 9 pullups. Thrusters unbroken in first and last rounds, 9/6 in the middle. Pullups totally awful. Thanks so much to Jess for keeping me moving when I did. not. want. to.

    Goal for February (and March): work strict and kipping pullups every time I'm in the gym.

    I really liked this cycle's programming! Loved the modified Wendler rep scheme for the performance cycle, liked the lifts, liked having 2 different squat exposures. I miss Monday programming so never got to dead lift but that's my problem, not SBK's.

  3. Strength Cycle….

    Everything felt really heavy last night and I had one of those crash and burn sessions that leaves you shaking your head…

    Paused Squats; 265x3x2
    Warm-ups were awful. Second set was a bit better.

    Bench: 195×2, 205×1, 215×1 230xf (this was suppose to be 6 singles)
    SIX singles, and i coulnd't get one. This is the first time failing doing the Steel bench program and everything was going great so I'm going to chalk it up to "one of those days" lack of recovery.

    On the positive side I finally got my new board out onto the snow Sunday and it was a beautiful, sun-filled day in the Catskills. And a lot of 'exercise.' Tons of fun. Actually still sore from it, so that may have contributed to the above….

  4. Sumo Dead Lift PR yesterday morning at 245#. New target ahead – break 300 before/on my 36th birthday in May. This cycle running parallel to the LFPBC worked really well together. Makes the case for maintaining many of these behaviors.

  5. PRs:
    190# DL up from 175
    67# press up from 65 which I had been lingering at for YEARS.
    push press pr's but did not test a 1-rm

    Finally did Annie RX'd in 9:11; felt pretty stoked about that.

  6. Fran – 3:57 – PR by 27" can't complain about that especially since I came in feeling pretty terrible due to lack of sleep.

    This cycle was great for me – really enjoyed the programming and was very happy with my progress. PR'd on all the lifts except the Snatch which I haven't been doing since I've been doing yoga on Sundays to work on my mobility.

    PRs:
    Front Squat 245 (+20)
    Push Press 200 (+10)
    Back Squat 320 (+10)
    Sumo DL 380 (+35)

    Annie 5:41 (-19")
    Fran 3:57 (-27")

  8. I've been PRing like crazy the past few days – on top of my front squat last week, I got a 425 back squat on Sunday (20 lb PR), a 475 pound deadlift (with much cleaner form than my old 465 PR), and then there's Fran yesterday.

    Kudos to Josh for shouting at me to keep going after I whacked myself in the chin with the bar on a particularly rigorous thruster. I stood there in a daze for a few seconds, then sucked it up and kept going. Dropped down once from the pullups during the 15 — I think I used my injured jaw as an excuse, but I could've kept on going — and finished off with a 3:31 Fran, which is 29 seconds faster than my old PR, and a chipped tooth.

    When the challenge kicked off, I started taking creatine and I've noticed a definite improvement in my performance. I'm not sure if it's the creatine, the challenge, or both (probably both), but it's been a great six weeks. That said, I'm off to France at the end of the week and my diet will go to a cheese-and-croissant-filled hell.

  9. Dear friends,

    Would any gals like to have an actual contest to eat the most tacos or frankfurters? (Man, that was hard to phrase without sounding inappropriate.) I think I could eat 15-20 in under 2 hours without getting too grossed out.

  11. @billy, i definitely think this should happen. given that someday i'll be out of this current sinus infection hell i'm experiencing i believe i could eat an obnoxious amount of tacos.

    i'm not so keen on the furters idea. no amount of glory would lead me to dip a hot dog bun into water.

    also now that we're done officially counting paleo points i would consider a one day tortilla binge acceptable in the name of taking a run at the leaderboard.

    gauntlet!

  12. Strength Cycle Day 12

    Squat 330x5x3. Felt ok. Was apparently a bit shallow on rep 15, and that made it more of a struggle. Slept terribly last night for the third straight night, so I'm just happy it all went up relatively smoothly.

    Bench: 200x5x3. Relatively unremarkable. Gutted out rep 15.

    Power cleans 180x3x3. Missed the third rep of the second set because I didn't get my arms around, bar was certainly high enough, and made it on the third set. Was happy with my first set, felt like I was really getting my knees out of the way and exploding vertically rather than horizontally.

  13. I'm going to try and start posting again. Congrats to everyone who PR'd.

    I believe on this cycle I hit a PR on Front Squat at 235. I definitely PR'd my deadlift at 365 (+15).

    I did Fran at 7:20 (RX) today. Definitely not my best time but I never got a good rhythm on the pull ups and so wasn't able to really get it going.

    I liked the cycle. I always appreciate having one olympic lift in there.

    I also "enjoy" slightly longer 15-35 minute met cons which we don't usually do.

    And long walks on the beach. At sunset.

  14. 6am with Josh & McDowell. Finished Fran in a disappointing 6:06, but thanks to Josh I finally understand why my thrusters are such a shit show. I've been trying to explode out of the bottom, which translated into starting the press portion of the movement while I'm about half way up from my squat. I saw the video to prove it!

    I practiced standing to almost full height and then just thinking about push pressing the weight overhead with the barbell for a few sets after all this and felt much better. It also helped watching Kevin breeze through the thrusters. It seems like the key is to keep them smooth and steady. I'm gonna practice these and finish Fran in 4:30 by the end of Feb. I'll put it on the board and everything.

  17. I was half-in and half-out this cycle with all of the CRASH-B rowing going on, and the need for extra carbs definitely affected the way that I approached the LFPB Challenge, though I think I learned quite a bit about myself and my body in the process.

    Surprisingly there were no rowing PRs anywhere, but I feel like there might be one coming this Sunday up in Boston. I feel like I've finally thrown together some good pieces on the erg this week.

    There were still some achievements to be made this cycle:

    Hit 205×5 FSQ (+5 lb), 150x5x3 push press (old PR ws 150×3, one set), 100×2 snatch (+5 lb)
    46 consecutive DU, Annie in 8:28 (PR by 3:44), and was proud of my "Flat Fran" in 6:42

  18. Ben – I use the Optimum Nutrition micronized creatine monohydrate. It's cheap – $10 for a 60 serving bottle.

    There's a lot of bro-science out there on creatine, and I'm not pretending to be any expert, but I tried to read only university-published articles on the stuff. Here's what worked for me:

    First week: 15 grams a day (three 5-gram servings)
    Second week: 10 grams a day (two five gram servings)
    Since then, I've been taking 5 grams a day, usually with food or mixed in with my post-workout protein shake. Definitely been feeling an improvement with my lifts and generally having more in my engine during WODs.

  19. Thanks Matt.

    From what I've read about it, creatine definitely seems effective, but kind of artificial. You retain water and get stronger while you're taking it, but the water weight and the strength gains go back toward normal as soon as you stop.

    Might have to give it a try though.

  20. I haven't had that experience at all – haven't felt bloated, no water weight, anything like that. I think your power does go down if you stop taking it, but I haven't – so it's been fine.

  22. 6am CRASH-B rowing: 2 x tabata rowing intervals: 849m, 831m. Preceded and followed by various mobility work. Fun to see everyone blasting away at Fran this morning and to see Kevin kick the crap out of it.

    Due to all of the CRASH-B training I missed out on much of this past cycle. Did PR my push press at 235. And PR'd my 2K row at 6:42 which qualified me for the leader board for all of 60 min until Christian R came and smoked my time.

  23. Ben,

    I take basically what Matt does, 5 grams of day, generally in tea at work. I don't think the improvements are artificial. The non-bro science I've read says that creatine helps muscle recruitment for max effort lifts of short durations which helps create lean muscle mass even if you "deload."

  24. I've never done a 1RM deadlift before, so I was pretty much guaranteed a PR. Having said that, I was really pumped with 325 last night. Maxing out is fun.

  25. My 2 cents on creatine…

    I've cycled it many times in the past for strength gains, always with success. While many brands will claim you have to "pre-load" for a week or so I've not found this to be the case and my guess is it's just that manufacturers would like you to buy more of the stuff. 5g/day is enough for most males that don't weigh 250+ and the best time to take it is peri-workout. Easiest way to take it is in your peri-workout shake (you take one of those, right?). Many brands come with a significant dose of sugar, which is supposed to help with uptake. I've never been a fan of excess sugar and except for one bottle in the 90s have only ever used the cheap stuff (any brand of creatine monohydrate) with no added BS. Creatine can help a lifter move heavy weights for a few reps, thus it's use in aiding strength gains, but I don't believe it would help at all with conditioning type workouts beyond a placebo effect. PCr is not used beyond the first few seconds of intense effort.

    1- Buy the cheap stuff.
    2- Throw a tsp in with your whey recovery shake. If you're a big person or training long, intense sessions maybe take 3-5g before in addition to after.
    3- Don't feel the need to "pre-load".
    4- Lift heavy when using it, that's where it can help.

  26. @Billy count me in. Question: regular tacos or HOT DOG TACOS. I would totally eat the hell out of some Chicago style..

    I was very tired and very hungry last night, post geriatric Fran, and demolished summer rolls and bahn mi and 5 beers. It was fun and I slept so deep that I never moved and woke up with "stranger danger hand" syndrome. Good times.

  27. PRs:
    Front Squat 205 (+20)
    Push Press 160 (+5)
    Back Squat 260 (+45)
    Conventional DL 340 (+25) those resistant bands helped

    Annie 7:56 (-18:11") finally stringed a bunch of dubs
    Fran 5:56 (-1:13) @ 85lbs
    7amrap Burpees – 86 (11+)

  28. @Billly et. al – hot dogs not so much, but try to up my taco number? Absolutely.

    After I finished those 9 – which were DELICIOUS, and Matamoros is the shizz, by the way! – I finished up by inhaling a slice of tres leches cake.

    I should probably be more ashamed of that decision than I am. I regret nothing.

    Viva los tacos!

  29. Fox,

    WRT taking it during a workout, is there any specific reason, or is it that you are using a shake anyway and might as well deal with the creatine then?

  31. Deadlifted 300×5 last night. That was my predicted 1RM when I started Strength Cycle 6 weeks ago. Awesome. After some squat fails last week I had a great session last night and it felt so so good.

    The cycle has been awesome. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is sort of my whole style in life (damn liberal arts education!) so I'm really enjoying focusing on one element in the gym and getting it right.

    That said I'm jealous of this cycle in the regular classes- I love snatches (no pun intended) and deadlifts and feel ready and interested in trying some of this Westside conjugate stuff. To MGMT: I request snatches (know it won't happen again), overhead squats and/or jerks for the next cycle. Guess that means I'm interested in Oly Lifting?

    As for the challenge let me just say I killed it. Lots of workouts, AR and meditation. Only one "cheat" dietwise and I went real strict (no alcohol or caffeine) and decent sleep (only one night under 7 hours). Curious to see how the capacity test goes since I'm doing strength not regular classes. I will say this- strength makes me want a lot more sleep. My new, demanding job means I can't have it. Paleo helps me to balance the two and feel not like a zombie.

  33. coming off another thigh/groin tweak. Been pushing it a bit, weights and then squash, or the other way around. Got back under the bar for lightish weight and felt good. Been pretty active in sports outside of the barbell, squash 3-4 times a week, and am moving up the ladder there. Have 8 warm weather golf rounds under my belt in the first month of the year, pretty solid there.

    Maybe I am getting older, or maybe it's a lot of things, but a two hour session, first half weights, second half running around like mad, there's not enough fish oil in the world to make that pain train go away. Sometimes it just hurts to walk.

    Seriously disturbed that wrestling is out of the Olympics. That's very, very disappointing.

  34. Echoing Noah B, after my self-directed Clean and Jerk – a – palooza towards the end of last year, I really wanted to start figuring out my Snatch next so I was jealous of all the snatching this cycle. That said, I am PSYCHED on strength cycle and so glad I finally did it. Everyone should do at least one.

    Also I'm in for ANY eating contests, ever. I have been putting away obscene amounts of food alongside all this heavy lifting. On my last indulgence Sunday I think I hit 5000 calories. Its not getting much easier, but I am getting used to it.

    I have been meaning to petition for a "donuts" leaderboard for a while, I think I could kill it, I ate 9 one day this fall.

  35. I let Todd peer pressure me to FRAN.

    I did some mobility. 3×12 kettlebell swings with 16kg. did a lap around the office.

    7:38 -45#thrusters, banded pull ups with a red (first 28) then green band- might not be the same as gym bands?

    Thrusters unbroken. Pull ups started sucking real quick. I think I did 10 then was doing them in sets of 3's then 2's

    then I did double unders 5,5,6,11, 5,6,5….
    then I remembered how much I love crossfit

  36. 1. power snatch: work up to 77%x1x2 sets (185#)
    2. power clean + jerk: work up to 79%x1x2 sets (228#)
    3. back squat: 85%x2x3 sets(302#)

    FRAN-3:47(PR by like a minute) Its been over a year since I did it last. Pretty damn happy with this. I didnt get the post Fran nausea that ive grown accustomed to, which was an added bonus.

  40. 3:09 Fran, 1 second off my all-time PR. First time I've given this a go since I hurt my back almost 2 years ago. Set the PR in Dec 2010 (thanks for the reminder today, Betz) when I was a lot stronger, if about 10-12 pounds heavier.

    Sub-3:00 was right there and then the grip went during the last round of pull-ups. I failed on one rep and that sunk me. I will break 3:00 soon, but I also don't want to do Fran for a while. Maybe after the Open.

    Thanks to Betz and the rest of the gang for yelling at me to get me close to my PR.

    I really enjoyed this cycle. Nothing I hit was an all-time PR, but this is absolutely the best I've felt since the injury, and all my lifts are going in the right direction. I'm down about 10-12 pounds and hoping to maintain this level of lean while getting back up to around 220.

  41. Today's Fran was a challenge. I came in with an upset stomach and was a little apprehensive.

    Load was 85 lbs. Did 15-9-6 strict chin-ups.

    Finished in 6:39, which is a 2:03 PR. Last time I did a Fran was in the 2011 Subway Series.
    Very happy about this.

    Came home and ate some awesome pork shoulder. Life is good.

  42. I posted a petition to keep wrestling in the Olympics on the CFSBK Facebook page.

    Todd- donut contest is on. I've done a dozen, and I ain't talking about any Crispy Cream BS.

  44. I just noticed that today, 2/13/13, is exactly a year to the day since my first foundation class with Jeremy. So thanks CFSBK for a great year of fitness and actually making going to the gym enjoyable.

    PR's: I don’t know if this counts as a PR or not because I’ve never tried to max on the deadlift (I usually do the "Fitness" side of things) – but on Monday I hit 205 lbs after starting at 135 and progressing up to 165 over the six exposures.

    Fran: thank you to Haley for the encouragement and not “no rep’ing” my ugly thrusters. But I finished in 5’36” (scaled to 55 lbs and a jumping pull up).

    And lastly – thanks to all the CFSBK crowd and especially coaches for the encouragement over this past year and more PR’s to come in 2013!
    -rg

  45. Sorry I'm late to this post.

    230 pound back squat
    270 pound deadlift a glacé back in my book said my last was 255 I thought it was 275.
    48 doubleunders unbroken – PR

    Fran was a hot mess for me. Clocked myself in the nose 5th rep in screwed me. Also not doing any shoulder work really since I came back from my injury left it all to my fried legs.

  46. A.
    Take 15-20 minutes to build to a heavy Split Jerk

    (45x Complex – 115x 3 – 165x 2 – 205x 1)
    225 – 245 – 265 – (FAILED) 285

    Note
    – Positionally it felt clean today, but I had no POP
    – Again with the 20# jumps! Making 15# jumps is manageable and so what if I have to hit more reps, more chances to dial in technique.

    B.
    For parts B-D, you will leave a running clock.
    At 3,2,1,GO perform the following:

    For time:
    95 lb Thrusters x 20 reps
    5 Muscle-Ups
    95 lb Thrusters x 15 reps
    4 Muscle-Ups
    95 lb Thrusters x 10 reps
    3 Muscle-Ups
    95 lb Thrusters x 5 reps
    2 Muscle-Ups

    Time
    5:53
    Break down
    Thusters: All unbroken
    MUs: All unbroken

    Note
    – To much rest in between movement, yes I was breathing heavy and felt uncomfortable.. but It was really cause I was afraid I would start to fail at the muscle ups if I started to soon.
    – I tired to hang with McD but he started to pull away

    C.
    At 10:00 minutes on the running clock, perform the following:

    Three rounds for time of:
    95 lb Hang Power Snatch x 10 reps
    Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups x 20 reps

    Time
    6:57
    Break down
    HPS: All set unbroken
    C2B PU: 15.5 – 8.7.5 – 8.7.5

    Note
    – Although it is a light weight I still should focus on technique.. biggest fault today was recovering from the top. I started going out a little to wide on the way down into the hang position.

    D.
    At 20:00 minutes on the running clock, perform the following:

    Three rounds for time of:
    95 lb Push Press x 10 reps
    95 lb Barbell Walking Lunges x 20 reps
    (barbell can be back racked)

    Time
    4:53
    Break down
    The bar touch the ground twice

    Note
    – I thought going into this today that the lunge would be a rest but I couldn't be more wrong,,
    – Haven't felt this uncomfortable in a long time

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