Lauren Borducci Hang Squat Cleans 123 (over body weight) like a BOSS
- Want to see even more CFSBK? Check out our Flickr Page updated regularly with shots from around the gym!
Upcoming Lifting Schedule
Below is the next lifting cycle schedule for the upcoming 6 weeks starting Monday. Performance will be working Wendler on their slow lifts and Fitness will be following a linear progression.
Monday: Bench Press
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Back Squat
Thursday: Snatch + Press
Friday:
Saturday: Back Squat
Sunday: Deadlift
With us on the tail end of back off week reaching towards the new cycle, we’d love to hear what you guys thought about the previous 8 weeks. Any feedback on the lifting, conditioning, standardized warm-ups, crush and back off week (so far) programming would be appreciated!
Movie Night Tonight!
When: Tonight, movie STARTS at 8:15pm
Where: CFSBK!
How much: Free!
Celebrate the first official day of Summer with Movie night at CFSBK. We’ll be screening the comedy cult classic, “Wet Hot American Summer“.
CFSBK will be providing free beer for the event, all are welcome to bring their own alchohol as well as snacks. This movie is not appropriate for minors. It’s also hilarious.
Plot Description
The setting is Camp Firewood, the year 1981. It’s the last day before everyone goes back to the real world, but there’s still a summer’s worth of unfinished business to resolve. At the center of the action is camp director Beth, who struggles to keep order while she falls in love with the local astrophysics professor. He is busy trying to save the camp from a deadly piece of NASA’s Skylab which is hurtling toward earth. All that, plus: a dangerous waterfall rescue, love triangles, misfits, cool kids, and talking vegetable cans. The questions will all be resolved, of course, at the big talent show at the end of the day.
View the trailer here.
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Rich Froning: Getting Recognized CrossFit
Chris Spealer Does “Chunky Diane”
Hand Balancing Practice
Option for a front squat…. and clean ir snatch pull over dl…
In the two years that I've been at SBK I can say I think this might have been my favorite cycle. I even enjoyed the bulk of Crush, you guys programmed some weirdly fun things, backoff has been super enjoyable too.
My fave overall was two lift Thursday. Enough so that I've been doing some OG on Sunday for bench and the 2 on the 1 for 10.
Warmups? I fully admit I had one favorite and did that more than the other. Really enjoyed the backoff versions of WU – they've been good times.
Hey! Raise your hand if you've been up since 5am drinking black coffee?? Oh, damn.. just me again..
@JB: up since 4, coffee at 6, oh heeyyyy…
Such a cool video. Lauren, you make me proud to be a woman!
Thanks for the bday love, all!
Lauren….nice….you make it look so easy!
I will always do the two standardized warm ups. I credit them for all of the progress I made with pull ups and push ups. Pull ups <3
The best part of this cycle was consistency on my end. I chose press and both back squat days to make it this cycle and kept making small gains and staying confident week to week. So happy 2x squats this coming cycle.
I always love crush week. Only regret was not coming to cleans/bench day more than once. What I learned from this cycle is that I don't want to miss any of the lift days. I'm going to rethink my rest days and maybe do AR more at home.
can anyone recommend a good, clean creatine supplement?
I thank the standardized warm-ups for the progress I've made with push-ups and pull-ups this cycle. They've also pointed out to me other movements I need to work on (e.g., overhead squats).
I agree with Crystal that the key for me this cycle was being consistent and working on the mechanics of the same lifts each week while trying to add weight. Since I'm still relatively new to CFSBK, every week is a new PR, which has been pretty good motivation to keep coming back.
The longer NFR/NFT WODs during back-off week have been great and surprisingly exhausting.
I would like to see the benchmark workouts more often. It would be nice for tracking improvements, and I have enjoyed the ones that we have done.
Also, skill development work during back off week. The handstand practice last cycle was a lot of fun.
I loved this cycle. Loved the way we worked the O-lifting in. Loved the standardized warmups. Missed a lot of crush week but it looked great. Loved back-off week. As someone who is about 60% consistent coming in b/c of travel, I was frustrated by back-off weeks that didn't feel like workouts. These did. The skills-based stuff was great, and the NFT stuff was HARD but not brutal. Nicely done, coaches.
I do miss more gymnastics stuff which we used to cover in backoff week, though…what about suggesting optional active rest play day WODs for us to try on our own?
@ Lauren, you are the badassest momma of two I know. That was beautiful!
I loved this cycle, it was the perfect combination of strength cycle and CF! It also makes you think more than twice about missing a class, because you don't want to miss your linear progression. Looking forward to this next cycle as well.
I concur with Julie. This may have been my favorite cycle in the last 3 years. Love the emphasis on a variety of lifts and the consistency in the programming. Feel like I am really making some progress because of it.
I just put like 5 lbs of chicken in the crock pot so it wouldn't go bad in the fridge while I tried to think of something to do with it. Anyone have a favorite paleo shredded chicken recipe? All I can think about is drowning it in cheesy enchiladas, but hoping for some healthier inspiration.
I loved the standardized warm ups because it gave me consistent non-timed practice on pull ups and overhead squats. Also served as an excuse to work on super strict form for some basic movements.
I still dont know how I feel about Wendler though. It obviously made me stronger since I PR-ed two out of the three lifts at the last total, but there were times when I felt like the linear progression guys were getting a better work out. I am debating whether I want to try linear this cycle or stick with Wendler.
I mentioned this once before but I would love it if Nick would do rowing seminar. I feel like an hour with him is all I need to fix some bad habits. I would ask him for a private tutoring session but I assume there are others like me out there.
That said, I think the coaches have been doing an incredible job managing some large classes while still giving tons of personal attention.
I really dug this cycle. Even back off week was pretty good. My only complaint was the second squat exposure each week was crazy light, but I ended up just doing front squats instead
"PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER". GM
CFSBK has made me the happiest member of any club, ever!
Todd, thank you for introducing me to the (Crossfit) nasty girls video and never taking no as an answer. I'm sorry it took me so many years to see the light. Imagine how many pull ups I would be doing now…………………
NOAH, you are the best!!!!!!!!!!! I feel so lucky that we got you. Never stop wearing those crazy shorts.
Everyone at CFSBK, I LOVE YOU! Best year of my adult life, for real!?!
Loved this cycle, and think I'm going to love this next cycle more. This will be my first time training snatches!
Today:
7am with McDowell and Nick:
pause squat: 5 @ #205, felt pretty solid. This was dialed back from #225 on Wed, when I bailed after the 3rd rep
clean complex: loved this. I ended up working at #135. Connecting the whole complex without putting the bar down at all was challenging but really fun.
after that I cashed out with
5 X 20 double unders, resting ~25 second between sets
then, at home:
dumbbell presses @ #45 db: 10, 6, 6
chinups 8 x 6
pushups 30 x 3
easy 1 mile run to the coop
Crystal's above comment is in regards to the One Year Anniversary of our first Foundations class together. The fact that she just quoted Groucho Marx (my spirit animal) shows that it was meant to be.
Matt C- the Wendler programming is generally for people who have exhausted a straight linear progression, and is meant to not totally destroy people who are squatting pretty serious weight. A straight linear is indeed probably "harder" and I have had a similar feeling before as an advanced beginner/low intermediate lifter (in my own mind) that I'd get more out of sticking to small, consistent jumps.
Try a linear this cycle and compare results!
This has been my favorite cycle as well. I'm looking forward to getting back after Wendler after vacation. I also liked the mobility and NFT work in "back off" week.
Matty: Stay on the 3×5 train if you haven't maxed out.
I liked the cycle a lot and appreciated the back off week far more this time than in some prior cycles.
I'd like to see more benchmark WoDs built into some of the programming, or maybe more intense aerobic stuff to balance the heavy lifting work. I feel that's where I need most improvement.
Getting stronger is always great (for me anyway) and I'm looking forward to Wendler this time and hitting some PRs after taking it easier last cycle with my back injury.
I too loved this last cycle, but instead of just lavishing praise:
1) For the performance deadlifting, I think a rotation could be useful. One week a heavy DL, and if you made it the last week, maybe Romanians, or rack pulls, or deficits, or good mornings, or something closer to assistance work. Or maybe every week. I don't know, and maybe I'm just being selfish and thinking "I'd like to work on those things and I never feel like I actually do, they should put it in class," but I do think that pulling even submaximally but pretty damn heavy wears me down. Also maybe it's just hard to program and have too many people doing different things, but you asked.
2) Standardized warmups are great. I wish I had something to add, but I do not.
3) More things with heavy carries or overhead carries or strongman-type stuff could be fun for WODs during the cycle rather than just during backoff week. Again, this is totally selfish but especially with the nice weather things like partner heavy or awkward carry WODs get us outside. Also, too, sprinting WODs.
4) The post-KStarr mobility stuff has been great/the worst/great. DROMS and introductions have felt really difficult lately in that the classes are so much larger than they once were. I can barely hear people's names and answers half the time and it feels like we spend more time on movements like arm swings than we used to because they're the easiest to do introductions in. My sense is that the DROMS/intro piece of class is eating up more class time and pushing classes beyond an hour relatively often as we try to pack so much in.
Perhaps something a bit less circular and quicker on the DROMs and more day specific mobility/soft tissue work where people are closer together and we go through introductions in that space would alleviate some of those issues. I do like the value placed on community and learning names, but I think even that has been somewhat lost in the larger evening classes when you can't hear. Not a large critique of programming or even a large critique at all, but just something I thought I'd flag.
I loved this cycle – one of my favorites ever.
In general, I think the template of Heavy Lifting + Short, Sharp Metcon is ideal. I've become progressively less fonder of the long, beat-down style metcons.
I'm not a huge fan of crush week. I feel like it takes me away for too long from systematic lifting – perhaps that's just me. I would prefer one week to de-inflame, get mobile, chill and play a bit and then get back to regular programming.
I love the standardized warm-ups. If done smartly, these can really make you strong and prepare you for the work to follow.
re: Samir's point, I think we once did a mini crush/mini backoff week that worked really well. Even 4 or 5 days of each might work? Since we squat Weds and Saturday we could always have lifting cycles start on a squat day, rotate which squat day it starts on, and if I'm thinking about this correctly, get in somewhere between 8 and 12 days of crush/backoff cycling without getting as far away from our regular cycle.
I'll jump on the bandwagon — I liked this cycle a lot, too. Part of what I liked is that cleans have been programmed during the week for the past couple of cycles, instead of on the weekends. I think it's good to mix that up every once in awhile so folks who don't come in on the weekends don't miss out on an entire movement. And as others have said, I am enjoying the new/increased mobility work. I like Joel's suggestion about doing names while doing mobility/tissue work. I also really liked the total. As someone who is still working on linear progressions, it was great to get a sense of what a rough 1RM might be.
The coaches have done a great job with the class sizes. There are more people in 6am than ever before, but I still feel like we get a lot of attention and classes move really smoothly and efficiently. Thanks!
This cycle was fun and it was great to see so much progress on my backsquats (from ending the previous cycle at 115x3x5 to ending this cycle at 145x3x5!) I think I could do 150 but am pretty maxed out otherrwise. I may try Wendler for something new.
I think I am one of the few people (or the only person?) who is not a fan of bench pressing. Power cleans grew on me finally in crush week when I accidentally added 10 pounds more than I intended and realized I could do more than I thought I could.
As for the standardized warmups, it was strange at first to do the same things more than once, but it grew on me. My only comment would be that I never finished all 3 rounds of WU#2 (the one with the pull-ups) in the time allotted. Did anyone else have this problem? I had to reduce the number of reps to get in as much as I could. In retrospect, maybe I should have focused on 2 out of the 3 movements instead so I could actually see some progress with the pullups.
The WODs did feel short this cycle. It felt like we did a lot of lifting and not a lot of cardio (I can't remember the last time I did a box jump). I was almost always at my max heart rate during the WODs and wanted to die, but then they ended and after I caught my breath I wanted to do more. I've started to do some running/rowing/jumprope on my own, but would be nice to get more of that in class. I also second the need for an erg workshop! And maybe a running clinic.
The mobilization stuff has been great. I never go to AR because it's a full hour – would love a 30 minute AR class instead.
I am a little bummed deadlifts are on Sundays again. Sundays are my one true day off from everything, so I rarely attend. But I love deadlifts. Without deadlifting for two whole cycles, my 1RM at the total was 195 (and definitely could have gone heavier). I wonder what kind of number I could have lifted with some practice behind it.
1. I can't believe I had to wait for Noah to say so out loud for me to realize that Groucho Marx is his spirit animal.
2. This is scary: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-20/men-over-40-should-think-twice-before-running-triathlons.html
I think the standardized warm-ups were great especially because overhead squats are an achilles heel of mine mobility wise and this gave me a great opportunity to work on my form, therefore I usually opted for warm up 1. Also, I really enjoyed the squat days of the cycle. I was much more consistent than in the past and it made a huge difference. I love power cleans and only wish I could have made it to more Thursday classes.
As for the cycle, I definitely see the value in working on the same movement each week to improve form and gain strength but I do miss some of the spontaneity that comes with more variety. I would have liked to see more time dedicated to metcon workouts. We spent so much time on the strength/skill portion of the class that the metcon workouts felt like an accessory and were often short. It felt more like what I would expect in Jeremy's strength class than a traditional Crossfit class. It was missing part of the endurance component that I love/hate (but afterwards love) about Crossfit. That being said, I loved crush week and I wish we could do workouts like that more frequently than every 6 weeks.
Thanks for asking for our feedback, I really appreciate the coaches taking the time to listen to us. This team of coaches really is the best Crossfit coaching team around!
Last night:
Snatch complex – worked up to 53# last night. First time I’ve ever done a squat snatch – very fun! Looking forward to practicing this movement for the next six weeks.
Only got through 2 rounds of the NFT work, but did the 3rd round of burpees (strict!) to practice my kick out. Jess decided that it was time I stopped doing the donkey kick. She’s right.
Programming:
I’ll happily join the chorus of love for the programming over the past six weeks, and I’m looking forward to the next six. After the next six weeks, I’ll probably be craving some longer metcons although, oddly enough, I’ve never felt faster than I do right now. (I’m probably just delusional.) Just based on my experience, we usually have a nice balance of sticking with something long enough to get better at it and see improvement and moving on before it gets too old, so I'm not too worried about it.
Suggestions for future cycles:
1. Always keep one Olympic lift in the mix, pretty please! They’re hard to teach and learn, but they are so rewarding. They’re also this perfect/neat/beautiful test of how well we can apply all of this hard-earned strength.
2. Can we do Stonewall in group class? It’s “only” ten minutes!
3. Because time/space are such a premium, maybe we could hold an alternate WOD outside at a park once a week (weather permitting)? This WOD could be a longer metcon for those members who miss conditioning. Downside is that it would require another coach and maybe it wouldn't work for insurance/regulatory reasons? I don’t know. This city has all kinds of crazy rules.
Chris, David, whoever else writes the program: THANK YOU for doing such a great job. Whatever you do, I’m going to like it (except the strict press, let’s not do that anymore).
Lauren – YES.
I also liked the focus on lots of strengh and short and sweet conditioning pieces. As far as I'm concerned, the shorter and heavier the conditioning is, the better. That said, it was also nice to see longer bodyweight type stuff sprinkled in on crush-week.
I think it was great that we got to see Oly movement on a regular basis, but would like it even more if we got to see the full versions of the lifts.
Two lift Thursday is the best thing ever – but Thursday is already a pretty good day, why not two lift Monday?
Standardized warm-ups were a great chance to work on pull-ups. It would be awesome if we could work in some weighted linear progression pull-ups into the warm up.
I agree that it would be cool to see more heavy carries / strongman type stuff. Also, can we get the sleds and/or prowler involved somehow? That stuff looks brutal/fun.
Seems like everyone wants there to be more of at least something, so here's a radical thought: longer classes? Perhaps a pipe dream, but it would be cool.
All in all, big tip of the hat to the coaches for programing and running some amazing workouts!
First of all, happy CFSBK anniversary Crystal and Noah! I won't be as effusive about my experiences as Crystal, but thats only because she already said everything I would have. Best place to get fit on the planet.
Loved the programming this cycle, I think I made it to almost every lift exposure! I really don't think that the longer metcons are wholly necessary for developing that cardio endurance if you really push on the shorter work-rest or intervallic workouts, and the few 15+ min workouts we had as partner workouts this cycle were plenty for me. I think I'm going to keep working on the olympic lifts solo like I did this cycle, but it will be great to have snatch in class once a week to drill form with some coaching.
Standardized warmups were great too, and having the OHS in there regularly really helped me to get comfortable in that position for all the snatch work I did.
I kind of agree with Joel that I could use some auxiliary work specifically on deadlift, but I wouldn't want to leave it to every other week. It's probably too hard to squeeze in and still do a metcon, but I would LOVE to be able to do both strength AND auxiliary work for certain movements once in a while.
Similarly, I also liked how the auxiliary metcon movements often mirrored the strength focus for the day. I love stuff like training a similar movement pattern explosively after working it heavy, like box jumps after squats, burpees after bench, kb swings after deadlift, etc. and I feel like we had a lot of that this cycle.
Crush week and back off week were both great. I actually love the long NFT stuff because it let me go heavy with plenty of rest, since that was more in line with my goals, but I could have just as easily gone fast and hard if I wanted to get huffing and puffing.
Oh and also thanks to all the coaches for making even the largest of classes run smoothly and on time.
Ooo longer classes? Doug, now that's an idea!!
I've got 4 weeks worth of vegetable and egg CSA share to sell in July. $100 obo. Email me hoogbk at gmail.
After pause squats and snatch OHS complex, thank goodness for Inka! She rocks 🙂
I was placed in the strength cycle foster home recently, but those std warmups were superb. In fact, warmup I w the pull-ups, hollow tocks and ohs is a keeper. Those drills are good.
Hope movie night was as good as I expect.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the clean video. Very happy about it. I needed that breakthrough.
Love the programming. Another opportunity to point out that our coaches are the best.
I know this is coming a bit late (I wasn't online much this weekend).
When I started coming to the gym (way back when) there was more variation in the programming which I loved. The "constantly varied" is very appealing to me and the longer met-cons and benchmarks are some of my favorite parts of doing crossfit. While I have seen gains in my strength, I feel like it comes at the expense other aspects of crossfit.
I've never really loved the idea of crush week and back off week. I think every week should have a good mix of "crushing" workouts mixed in with days of more skill work or lifting. I do love the standardized warm ups as an opportunity to work on certain movements day after day to see gains.
Thank you for asking for feedback!