Performance:
In 5 minutes, run 400 meters then perform max reps:
Deadlift 315/205
Rest 2 minutes
In 5 minutes, run 400 meters then perform max reps:
Muscle-Ups
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Fitness:
In 5 minutes, run 400 meters then perform max reps:
Deadlift 225/155
Rest 2 minutes
In 5 minutes, run 400 meters then perform max reps:
9 Squats
6 Push-Ups
3 Pull-Ups or 6 Ring Rows
Score total number of deadlifts and rounds completed on the couplet/triplet
Mattzilla
A Crossfit Shoe Primer
By Coach Noah
If you’ve been Crossfitting for a little while, odds are you’ve noticed that most of our athletes tend to sport some footwear that many would consider unconventional, old-school, or just plain weird. While you can Crossfit in any pair of shoes, some types of shoes will optimize your ability to get in good positions, protect your body, and ultimately perform better. Since among our coaches I own the dubious honor of being the resident shoe-ho, I will be your tour guide through the always controversial world of Crossfit footwear. 3, 2, 1, GO(d I am lame)!
Training Shoes
For most of the population, one pair of shoes should suffice to get us through 99% of Crossfit workouts. These don’t have to be incredibly expensive, and may in fact be cheaper than the over-engineered running shoes currently on the market. Rather than give you specifics about one shoe over another, following a few general rules should get you into something appropriate:
A (relatively) flat and (relatively) non-compressible sole: Most of the activities we perform require the ability to “feel” the floor. Many athletes have trouble keeping their heels down when they squat or shifting their weight forward when they swing a kettlebell simply because their shoes are so built up and cushioned that they simply have no concept of their foot’s relationship to the floor. Look for a shoe with a sole that is flat and low, without any zany cutouts or hollows. Ideally, the shoe will be close to “zero drop” a term which means that the heel and toe of the shoe are of the same height. The sole should also be made of relatively firm rubber. Some shoes, in their quest for greater cushioning have embraced such plush materials that you may as well be squatting wearing a pair of sweet potatoes on your feet, which while delicious, is not ideal.
Lightweight aka the Single Digit Rule: An easy rule I’ve come to embrace is that any show I wear to work out in should weigh under 10 ounces. Many weigh under 8, and there are some under 6 and even a few under 4. The lighter the better, although I personally question whether your feet know the difference between 4.6 and 5.3 ounces. Mine certainly don’t, but they, like their owner, are stupid.
Rad colors: This is a personal sentiment, but c’mon folks, this isn’t black tie footwear we’re talking about.
Most of these shoes fall into the “racing” or “performance” running shoe category. Manufacturers use these terms to signify that when trying to run fast (like, say, for a race), people will want light shoes that don’t make their feet act stupid. Since we are Crossfitters, and are ALWAYS RACING, we can just wear them all the time.
Weightlifting Shoes
Dedicated weightlifting shoes take the concept of a firm sole to the next level, using either ultra hard
synthetic (EVA or similar) or real-honest-to-paleo-god wood(!) for maximum stability and to better transmit force from the lifter to the floor. These are purpose specific shoes, which violate the “no heel” rule above- most weightlifting shoes have a heel of about ½ to 1inch high, to allow for more ankle flexion at the bottom of squats, which helps mobility/positioning under heavy load. Consider:
Pros:
Incredibly stable
Aids in mobility and positioning at the bottom of squats and in force transmission
Can “add” weight to your lifts (somewhat illusory/placebo, but whatever)
Cons
Most are expensive
Extremely purpose specific. If you wear them to a bar, people will laugh at you. Ask me how I know this.
Look like they were designed by a team consisting of my grandpa, Frankenstein, and a Hell’s Angel (except for the super sexy Nike Romaleos, which cost approximately the GDP of Belarus.)
Some other quick thoughts
LSD Shoes: No, these are not shoes to wear while attempting the Dark Side of The Moon/Wizard of Oz mashup- I’m referring to Long Slow Distance. If you are planning to run substantial distance, or are training for a long race and logging significant miles, you may want to invest in some purpose specific running shoes. Especially if you have not practiced (or suck at) minimalist/POSE/Chi running, you may want to avoid super-minimal shoes. While a super-efficient runner may get away with a length of tractor tire duct taped around his foot, most of us could benefit from a little bit of cushioning in our shoes. There are plenty of models out that split the difference between the conventional Staypuft Marshmallow Man meets Cadillac Biarritz shoe and dipping your feet in candle wax before your marathon. Ease into it.
Chuck Taylors: Worn by the everyone from Wilt Chamberlain to Kurt Cobain to toddlers everywhere, Chucks are in many ways the perfect Crossfit shoe. They’re flat, non-compressible, fairly light, and cheap. Plus, you can wear them in the “real” world, which cuts down on WOD to “first beer of the weekend” transition time on Friday. The only real downside is that they are a bit clunky to run in, and don’t make you feel like a ninja.
Vibram Five Fingers: I’m going to take some flack for this, so I will be gentle, but I don’t particularly care for VFF’s (yes, in the name of science, I do own a pair.) VFFs arose from well-intentioned folk who wanted a more minimalist training shoe when there weren’t many options out there. Now there are plenty of shoes that blend minimal/lightweight design and the benefits of modern technology. Five Fingers are offer poor stability during lifting, and are inadequately padded for box jumps, double unders, and sprints. I do think Five Fingers can be useful for training runs or to practice minimalist running, as they do offer great ground feedback, but as I mentioned earlier, that feedback comes at a price. If you can run fast in Five Fingers, you can run faster in real sneakers, trust me.
Ok! Enough about shoes already! You get the drift- light, flat, not squishy. Cheap and colorful are pluses. If you have any other questions, want my thoughts on Shoe A vs. Shoe B, have specific training goals or injury history to consider, or just want to talk about feet, email me at noah(AT)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com
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MIT Invention Lets You Reach Through Computer Screen & Play With Stuff Gothamist
How To Improve your Kipping Pull-Ups Tabata Times
Technical Glitches I’m Seeing A Lot These Days, Pt.2 Cathletics
today and yesterday were both really hard, in the best sense of the word. i just ate the shit out of a huge plate of eggs and brussels sprouts and feel pretty great.
35 for today at fitness RX.
Hammered out 30 reps at 225 and then 5 rounds for the squat/pullup/pushup if it was not changed to 6 pullups I might have made 6 rounds… the transitions cost me time. however and kept moving pretty much through the whole thing.
Coaches:
I signed up for the Masters throwdown in Connecticut. Where do I get in touch with everyone going so I can get a ride?
Thanks
Performance WOD Rx'd
30 DL – These were a struggle, started to lose my back towards the end
14 MU – Had a little trouble with the false grip. I might try Bar MU next time just to see how I do with them in a WOD
Runs were around 1:30 for the first one and 1:45 for the second. Should have gone a bit slower on the first run.
10 am with Nick and Arturo.
This WOD was so much fun! Partnered with Kate R which was fun (duh) 38 reps at 135# and 3 rounds plus 9 squats- strict push-ups and thin green and blue banded pull-ups- thank you Stella for getting me in and out of those. It had been a while since I attempted banded pull-ups and they felt really bouncy and weird, nbut toatlly manageable.Thank you ladies for the encouragement at the end!!
I think I scaled appropriately today- I thought I should go for a heavier weight as I know that this is less 75% of my 1RM, but when we were warming up it just felt like the right weight.
6K race on the erg yesterday with my fellow Crash-Beasts. Some things I learned about racing a 6Kwhich I will have to do again at least once in my life.
-Do not start sprinting at 1000M- it may seem like you are close to the end, but you are not.
-No need for own music while racing as adrenalin/ energy in room/ numbers in front of you will keep you occupied.
-Having someone (special thanks to Josh S) really shout at you at the end really helps therefore I will do my best to shout at everyone too.
-2K is going to seem short now.
-People may think I am on drugs at work afterwards.
-I am glad I quit smoking.
Looking forward to reading what Nick has to say about my technique and how to get better.
11am, big but fun. I'm wary of high-rep deadlifts so went relatively light… 39 @ 165, and 4 rounds + squats (ring rows). Could have done more rounds the 2nd time, should have pushed.
I think I enjoyed doing high reps at low weight than I would have fewer reps at a heavier weight. At one minute left I thought, "maybe I can hit 40" and that gave me something to strive for, without worrying about hurting myself (again). 35-39 felt amazing. First part was definitely harder than the 2nd. I'm scheduling some quality time with the foam roller & lacrosse ball this evening.
Huge endorphin rush while listening to music after class today. I like exercise.
+ a note to the folks posting for the first time recently – I like reading all the posts on the blog, even when it's just a quick recap. I know nobody is waiting with baited breath to read my workout results, but taken as a whole I think it makes for a better experience. Also it's nice matching faces to posts. I'm very shy in person, blog comments work well for me as a way to get to know people 🙂
I really loved today's workout! Some combination of a good night's sleep, new shoes, and magic was working for me today.
Noon class, fitness: 35 deadlifts @ 95 lbs and 3 rounds + 9 squats ( with ring rows). Around 1:45 on the runs, which is fast for me. I'm always scared to go above 95 lbs on DLs in WODs, but this workout told me it's time to increase that weight.
It's been a really long time since I felt this good during a workout. Sometimes it clicks! Thanks, coaches!
Haven't made it into the gym since Tuesday. Not sure what's gotten into me. I think I'm beginning the winter hibernation.
Worked with the super motivational KH this morning. A real treat.
Fitness, with an orange band for the push-ups and subbing ring rows for the pull-ups. 15 deadlifts at 155#. So heavy. Was only able to do sets of 3. 4 rounds even on the body weight piece.
11am Class
22 Deadlift @315
13 Muscle Ups
Fitness Rx at 9am:
Part 1: 26 in 5 sets of 5 + 1. Longer breaks than usual b/w sets b/c 155# is heavy for me.
Part 2: 5 rnds + 2 squats. 400m runs were slow, but I don't think I could have done these rounds any faster.
I didn't think I'd like this work-out, but I felt great after.
Been low on sleep, slacking on recovery and drinking more. I'm waiting for the anvil to drop on my head.
Made it to the gym even though i was feeling super low energy. Today was just about "showing up" for me. And I'm glad I did.
30 DL's @#115. Thought I was gonna do 125 and then balked at it…
3.5 rounds of the other stuff.
Noah FTW. "Dipping your feet in candle wax," heh.
WOD 1: 25 dead lifts at 155#, all done in sets of 5. 155# is exactly 74% of my 1RM, so the fitness programming was spot on for me. This was my first time deadlifting heavy since throwing out my back on Oct 18th, and it felt great. Heavy, but I had control and felt my hamstrings firing on every pull. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!
WOD 2: Not so hot. 2 rounds plus squats plus push ups. Did kneeling push ups and 3 kipping pull ups instead of 6. I was taking the squats WAY slower than I normally would for an air squat, simply because I'm being cautious of my knee, which is not 100% yet. It felt good today though, so looking forward to squatting some weight again soon. Did 3 pull ups instead of 6 because I didn't want them to slow me down.
I was partners with the one and only KMo, who inspired me to start working on getting some volume on my strict push ups again. After the WOD, we did a NFT Accessory WOD at Root Hill of consuming chicken salad over greens, blood orange pellegrinos, and decaf cappuccinos. Boo yah.
Noon class with Nick, Mel, & Ro
WOD 1: 30 reps @ #145. Bar felt stupid heavy today. Runs are getting faster.
WOD 2: run was slow as fuuuuuuu… 3 R plus 10 lunges (no squats para mi).
This WOD left me a little frustrated and not as elated at the end. I just didn't enjoy it very much. Unclear as to why. Rainy day problems?
Noon with Melo,Art and Nick
I did 37 reps at 125 lb. this was too many reps I was told under 30 would have been better this means my weights were too light .my thoughts exactly I can no longer do my deadlifts wods at 125 I must remember to go up. My second round was 3 rounds + 9 squats and I'm officially getting back into running slowly but surely besides it was scary to run on that wet pavement and to top it off i left my ankle brace in my backpack that was stolen yesterday another item i just remembered I lost!
10 AM with Nick and the SUPER AMAZING PLAYLIST AGAIN.
25 deadlifts at 185#, 2 rounds + 3 squats fitness Rx. I think maybe I should have cut kipping pullups to 3 per round so as to keep moving a bit faster.
I can dl 315 but not easily and I can do a few muscle ups, so I was happy with 11/6. Took the kids to boxing at Gleason's where I ran a 5k ish with the mrs. Swung a kb a bit and did handstands.
11am class –
11 DLs @ 315
14 Muscle Ups
Those deadlifts were heavy.
Og with the one and only og Noah
Today's wod
21 deadlifts @125
3 muscle ups
I had to tape my wrists in the middle which took all the time. I probably would've only got 5 mu had I pre taped. My hands and biceps are pretty sore and tender. The runs felt great in the dark.
Push press: 45×5. 75×3, 85×3, 90×3, 95×2,f
Did some clean and jerk drills
Du and hand stand practice
10,10,20 ghd sit ups.
I whined the entire night about how weak and old I felt and now I feel amazing! Long live cfsbk!
10am class. Did 34 reps on the first piece at 195#. Then 3 rounds plus the squats, push ups, and 3 ring rows.
Love running in the rain.
9am class partnered with MeLo.
WOD 1:
30 deadlifts at 205#
-sets of five until I got to 20, then went 3-3-4.
WOD 2:
Fitness version with 3 C2B pull-ups.
3 rounds + 9sq +6pups.
WOD 3:
Brunch
WOD 4:
Play an hour of soccer for the first time in 15 years.
-During brunch, Noah found out that they were a man down for the CFSBK soccer team's final game. I sillily agreed to play, ran to Modell's to get gear, then got my lungs kicked with all that damn running. 😉
-Although I was completely exhausted afterwards, I had so much fun. It's really great to be physically able to go out and play a sport that I hadn't played in years. I'm sure as shit going to be sore tomorrow though.
-Thanks for letting me be a guest teammate, Tacos!