CrossFit South Brooklyn

Established 2007

Clean Complex

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Fitness:
1RM Below The Knee Power Clean + Front Squat

Hold the catch position after the BTK Power Clean, then finish the squat portion.

Performance:
Work up to a heavy single on the Below the Knee Squat Clean

Front Squat

Fitness: Work up to a heavy triple
Add 5lbs from last week

Performance: Work up to a heavy single

Post loads to comments.
CLN FSQ e 6/6
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Assistance Work:
50 Ring Rows
50t Kettlbell Front Rack Reverse Lunges
550m Run

Distribute the work however you’d like.

Jess and Neal G. Father/Daugher CFSBKers

CFSBK Coat Drive for New York Cares

Hey CFSBKers!  Winter is Coming!  This year, CFSBK will partner with New York Cares, and organization that collects 100,000 gently used winter coats each November and December and distributes them to thousands of men, women, and children who would otherwise go without them.  We will begin collecting on Sunday, December 1st and will accept gently used winter coats until Friday, December 6th.  So be a good, clothes-eschewing CrossFitter, clean out those closets, and let’s show New York how strong our community can be!  

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The Movement Fix Blog

Comments

  2. CF MNL OG

    Squats
    45×5 135×5 185×5 225×5 255×5,5,10

    I don't understand how these are still going up. Must be the all the Kalabaw milk. I almost had to stop this time because my forearms/elbows were cramping up, and the last 2 reps had a solid 10 deep breaths before, but they moved.

    Hang Snatch
    95×2 115×2, 135×1 145xF,1
    then
    10 at 90% (150#) with 1-1:30 rest between. One failed rep in there.

    Muscle up work (just wanted to see if I could still string a few together now that i'm getting heavier)

    Weighted box jump (for fun, kettlebells or plates in each hand)
    10×1, 20×1, 35×1, 53×1, 70xf,f,1,1,1,1,1

    Ring L-sit :22×3

  3. 6am with McDowell and Arturo

    Hit new PR's on both lifts today which was my goal. 185# Clean and 205# 3 rep Max Front Squat.

    Highlight of the class was when Arturo said that he and McDowell were playing good cop and bad cop and Rob U. said "Sort of like CHiPs?"

    Belly laughs all around.

  4. Clean: 108, failed 113. Sigh.
    FSQ: 170×3! BAM!

    Did the ring rows and the lunges with a 16kg KB, no time to run.

    Also Laura Mc is an awesome bar partner.

  5. 7am with Arturo and McDowell. Went up 25# from last week, hit 195 for the hpc + front squat, PR. It wasn't super pretty, my elbows are still kind of an afterthought, but I think it was OK. Then I failed at 200, but I think if I rest a bit I can make it. Pulling hard on 195 is new, and I'm excited to snatch in Saturday. Would love to improve on last week's PR.

    Then hit 205×3 front squat. Heavy but if we were doing it again next week, I would add weight. Cash out was like a while thing right there. My elbow is not super happy with me.

    Super hungry these days. Time to eat!

  6. Make-up post from yesterday. I knew life was going to get in the way last night/ this morn, so I came in yesterday at 8am. It was one of those days that I felt really tired and sore and everything felt heavy. Cleans were kind of a mess and I couldn't get past 93# which was frustrating as I had managed 103# last week. This just shows me the difference between doing this properly rested and not.
    Front squat- heavy triple at 155#. And then some erg fun.
    Yesterday's QOD freaked me out a bit as the possibilities are endless but I guess I would learn some more languages and travel more. Maybe I can do that anyway…

  7. Really loving the 7am class on the rare occasion that I can get my shit together in the morning. Exciting PRs today!

    Hang clean: 63-83-103-123-133-145(pr)-153f-153f-153(pr!)
    Failed the first two attempts at 153# because I was getting scared of dropping under the bar. I think I just had to turn off my brain to finally get it. Super, super stoked about this.

    Front squat heavy single: 115-145-155-165(pr)-175(pr)
    I had planned to stop at 160#, but Stella inspired me to go heavier. Used a belt, which helped.

  9. Blown away by Stella and Laura Mc. I saw them walking in and they looked ready for business.

    As for myself I did the 6am class and got to a 115 clean and a 190 (PR) on the 3RM Front Squat. I know I have the strength for more on the clean, but it is form and flexibility holding me back.

  10. It was a super PR day all around it seems…
    7am class. Hit 150 on my clean. I think if I was not swapping so many plates around and had a little more time I could have gotten one more at 155-160. but Will take the PR at 150!

    Front squat felt pretty good going into it and threw my mind at it and mentally got there.
    put up a PR for 3 rep at 200#s!

    knocked out the rings in 3 sets 25, 13, 12, and lunges with a 20KG bell 10/10/10/10/5/5 and ran the block. brrrrrrrr

    Need to start thinking about the masters competition and getting my snatch wired tight but I don't think that is going to go up much more by then. If I get anything over 115 its a PR.

  12. Yay! PRers!!!! Great job everyone! The last week of a cycle is always so much fun and full of huge achievements for everybody!!

    I forgot to mention that the last time we did front squats in a cycle, before the last cycle, I had finished at 90#- I was about four months into my CrossFit career, in March. So happy with this huge improvement. Yet another reason to keep a log book- I now don't feel so bad about not hitting my cleans!

    I feel like a different person. Thank you CFSBK!

  13. 10 am class
    Hang Clean – worked to 235. 10 lbs heavier than last week and a pr from the hang. Missed 245 twice, didn't commit.
    FSQ – worked to 275, also a PR.
    Skipped the cash out to see about a motorcycle.

  14. That movement fix blog is great and it touched on a very relevant topic for me. According to the article on kipping HSPU, crashing down on your head puts strain on the nerves in your neck. It just so happens that we have been doing a lot of kipping HSPUs lately and it also just so happens that I have been dealing with some exertion headache issues lately.

    So, question for the physiology nerds out there is, am I seeing ghosts, or is there maybe a link between kipping HSPUs and my exertion headaches? If so (or even if just possible) I think I would swear off kipping HSPUs because those headaches suck.

    Which leads to a follow-up question, what is an appropriate scale of volume when switching from kipping HSPU to strict? My guess would be to do 1/3 as many strict as you would do kipping.

    Thanks all. Protect ya neck!

  15. 7 am, with the usual suspects,
    Started on the hang cleans thinking im just gonna add 5# from last week which would put me in the 120# zone, but was reminded that its week 6 in the cycle, so I added weight until I couldn't at an amazing 140#, but failed @ 145# twice, was just not getting under the bar at all, no bueno. As for the front squats, I stopped at 150# which is also a PR but definitely still in the honeymoon phase where I can add more from week to week.
    Cash out, as usual very taxing, but feel oddly energized after finish them.
    QOD was how long have you been crossfitting, I was amazed by some of the answers, (anything over 2 years) kicking myself for not having started this earlier in my life.

  16. I really appreciate the perspective of the article on the Movement Fix blog about how the author/clinician deals with injured CrossFitters. He says that he never tells people to quit CrossFit and instead works to find a solution that allows them to keep doing what they love.

    After my knee injury escalated, I went to see a PT who IMMEDIATELY told me to quit CrossFit. I was in tears wondering what I was going to do. This is a terrible way to deal with a patient, especially one with only a moderate injury. Maybe as a PT, you just see an injured knee, but it is attached to a whole person who has probably injured it doing something she loves. This PT was ready to put me on the couch doing leg lifts for 6 months rather than work on a real solution.

    Luckily, David helped me figure out a way to deal with my injury and safely continue at the gym. My knee is so much better now than when I was seeing the PT. This is another plug for working with our amazing coaches if you have any injuries!

  17. Any way crush week can be pushed to after thanksgiving? Sad that (probably) most of us will not be in town for most of crush week since it's during the holiday!

  20. Next week is Crush Week, as per schedule. The calendar can't stop fitness! Plus, we'd just roll into the December holidays on a weird schedule anyway. Jess and I always try to fit in a few WODs at a CF gym local to her family when we visit. Maybe this is an option for anyone missing Crush week. WODs out of CFSBK almost always feel like cruch week in my experience.

    —

    Doug – kipping the HSPU can be a precarious business. Just as in kipping pull ups (we like athletes to have a few strict pull ups before starting to kip) athletes should have a few strict HSPU before kipping them. You wouldn't crash to the bottom of a pull up repeatedly under no control repeatedly without expecting some tissue damage around the shoulder, eventually. With the HSPU, the issue is magnified because instead of just insulting your shoulder, you're insulting your neck and the spinal cord wrapped up inside. I personally dislike the kipping handstand push up and believe it to only be advantageous to a competitive CFer. I pepper them in once or twice a year but purely for fun, and always under control. I see the strict HSPU as a better strength developer and so I default to it. I'm OK having a slower Diane time because of this. The problem is that it's possible to kip a movement without the strength to perform it strict, and under duress. This leads to two things I hate:

    1- Crashing down on your NECK without any eccentric control. The goal here becomes only to get a rep, not to move well. I've seen athletes kip the shit out of their hips and knees to get to lockout, and then come CRASHING down on their cabezas…no bueno.

    2- Resting your ENTIRE BODY WEIGHT ON YOUR NECK, which is entirely crazy in my mind. I've seen athletes, usually female, and often ones I love as if (as if) they were my own wife…rest inverted supported by only their necks, with their hands fumbling around their shirt…no bueno.

    Kipping handstand push ups can be fun and can safe and done well when the negative and is controlled and the bottom position is supported largely by the arms. They might prove the difference between a $1,000,000 purse or 10th place for a competitive exerciser. Not the case for anyone I know here in Brooklyn. They probably don't weigh in favorably in the cost-to-benefit analysis for the majority of us.

    My advice is to lay off handstand push ups for a bit, lax ball around your neck, t-spine, and collar bones to free up some space that may have been compressed. Consider seeing Fidler or Inka also. In the future we as a staff will do a better job discussing the points of performance on this movement and also about scaling volume for both the kip and strict.

  21. @Doug: Only speaking from my personal experience from practicing and teaching yoga and then doing HSPU myself… I'd say there's a possibility of correlation there.

    My opinion is that the issue is in how we're lowering DOWN more-so than how we get back up. When I do these, I do my darndest to lower down nice and slow/controlled (and am happy to stick with 2 abmats since I don't have full strength here yet). From there, the kip is really just using the springloaded power of your hip extension to push yourself back up, rather than only the strength in the arms. So if I can keep my arms/head/neck in good alignment, action, and stability while i move my legs to kip, then I still feel I'm working safely (because it's no different than it would be if I was doing a regular headstand in yoga). Ryan makes this more clear in the follow-up comments on his blog:

    Question: "There is no requirement for the eccentric phase of the HSPU to be slow. Kipping or strict. So I guess what you really are saying is: keep the eccentric phase controlled, and slow. Or did I misunderstand something?"
    Ryan's answer: "The underlying issue here is not kipping, it is spinal compression. You can have spinal compression with kipping or with strict if you put pressure through the head and into the neck. However, it's much more likely for someone who is kipping to crash down on their head repeatedly than someone who is doing them strict. You did not misunderstand anything. You are definitely correct. If someone can control the eccentric phase of the HSPU and flex the hips and knees without resting on the head, then the movement is fine. But I doubt a very large %age of people do it that way."

    When headstand (or any other inversion) is taught in yoga, we instruct that something always has to move DOWN strongly (your forearms, hands, whatever is supporting the head/pose), so that the shoulders (and thus the hips and the weight of the body) can keep lifting UP strongly away from the head/neck to keep freedom there.

    So while I'm not choosing to swear them off myself, I do think it's an important movement to be very aware of my own edge and to keep ego out of it so that I know when to scale in load, volume, or movement. Again… my own personal opinion 🙂

    @JB that video reaming out Chip Wilson is hilarious.

    @Lily… love hearing that story!

  22. Cleans were ok today, not great. Got up to 165, failed twice and got it once. I got 175 last week, oh well…
    Front squat was better – worked up to 220×3 (PR)
    I was stuck in the 185-190 range for over a year, I think and suddenly this cycle the weight started to move. Happy about that.

  23. Forgot…shout out Jess and Neal G! Neal, at 72 years young, is our most senior CrossFitter and someone who've I've had the pleasure of working with for the past 4 years or so. He got his daughter Jess into it and now I get to watch them challenge each other…a real treat 🙂

  25. First time back in over a week. I was scurred….
    PR'd my front squat @ 93#…big thanks to Arturo for all the tips, guidance, and telling me I still had more in me!!
    PR'd my clean & 70# but they still need work!

    So happy to get back to 6am class!!

  28. 10am class today.

    Hang clean:
    -83, 103, 125, 135, 145, 155, 160fx2
    Eh. I hit 158 last week so went for 160 today. 155 wasn't even great so I didn't really have confidence going to 160. That's probably why these just ended up being clean pulls, with no legit attempt to get under the bar.

    Front squat:
    (135×3, 165×1) 185×1, 195×1, 205×1
    -also eh. I believe this matches a PR but I really thought I'd be able hit more. FSQ's had been moving so well this cycle but the weight felt Heavy today. Also low back is still pretty tight from Sundays DL's and Monday's Wod that I did yesterday.

    Took a one hour break for a client then decided to hit the WOD that McD and Arturo did:
    For time:
    -1000m row, 50 double unders
    -750m row, 75 du's
    -500m row, 100 du's
    Time: 14:23
    All lungs on this one. Tripped up a lot during my first 50. Rows averaged about a 2:05 split.

  29. Ok, re-committing to journaling and blog posting, so here goes.

    Fun 6:30 class today with a bunch of troublemakers, led by Starsky Ruiz and Hutch Myers.

    Hang Clean (kg) 90 100, 110F 100 was easy, 110 was gross, got too aggressive, overlocked my hook grip in and tweaked my wrist. On the plus side, it went way up, so its there, I just have to be less of a spaz.

    FSQ: 255, 275, 285 PR A bit rounded in the t spine, but it was mine all the way.

    Fun, as always, working with the contemplative 2 K's Tickkle Apple.

  30. 6:30 with McDowell and Arturo

    I came to pr and did not.

    Row warm up

    Hang clean 93#..I've been doing 103 every single time I come to the gym and just couldn't even get close tonight. Let myself fail 5x or so. Oh well.

    Front squat. 95×3, 115×3, 125×3, 130×2,faaaaaaaaaaaiiiiilllll.

    Nft I liked. Then ghd sit ups 20,20,15

    Dino BBQ with Sarah La Rosa for all the protein I'm lacking. With a sprint home to stay warm, unbroken!

  32. Fun to read about the exciting personal records today! Congratulations to all and shout-out to Laura Mc on what sound like some huge jumps, especially on the Hang Clean!

    Got stuck again at 128# on the Hang Clean. I'm doing something wrong, but I think it won't be too hard to troubleshoot because I'm getting under it, just not standing it up. Come to think of it, everything was going fine until Noah mocked my hopes and dreams..

    My 1 RM Front Squat today was 145# which must be my best. It felt pretty fast, but my upper back rounded a little.

    Nice little DIY cash out.

    Nothing earth-shattering for me today, but I'm appreciating that I was able to be there and do all this stuff and leave feeling better than I did when I walked in. Om

  33. Did not feel like working out today, but decided to "just show up."

    Hang clean: worked up to 125, tried twice at 130 but failed both times.

    Front squats: I was content at 3 x 125, but thanks to Arturo for pushing me to add more weight. Made it up to 3 x 135, which is a PR. Had a lot of trouble keeping my back from rounding on the way up.

    Also, thanks to DO for calling me out for doing the reverse lunges with a 12kg kettlebell, which was too light. Increased the weight and did extra lunges.

    Managed to get in some rowing for CRASH-Bs afterwards too.

  34. Despite my enormous pile of homework, made it to the 6:30 pm tonight.

    Hang Clean went well: 83, 113, 133, 153, 158, 163F (got under the bar..no chance i was standing that suuucker up)

    Matched my 1RM for FSQ from the last cycle at 170..failed at 175

    Shoulder is feeling super fUnKy after a lot of shoulder to overhead work…gonna try laying low for a few days to try and get this kink worked out. (Boooo -__-)

    We will meet again CFSBK…

  35. PR'ed the Squat Clean @205# finally breaking the dreaded 200# barrier with Arturro and Mac Daddy McDowell @ 6:30. I think the barbell drills were really beneficial. Embarrassed with my shout of glee as I was at the bottom of my squat in good rack position.. I knew then it was a wrap…

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