Coach Whitney’s furry companion, Penny Lane
- Check out the current lost and found inventory on our Flickr page
- New merch is in!! CFSBK is now carrying hats, board shorts and ladies training shorts all availble at the Front Desk. Get stoked!
Feedback Form Feedback
I’m (David) about to head off on a nine day trip to Europe with some friends to get tattooed in Berlin, see some doom metal in Tilburg, and appreciate some art in Amsterdam. I feel like it can’t be coming at a better time for me and am very excited to get out of the city and break my weekly routine for a bit. Trips like this are great for regaining some perspective on how and why we do things at the gym and taking time to consider the alternatives. Recently, I put out a feedback form soliciting member perspectives on how they’re experiencing the gym and I was so pleased to read through over 120 candid responses, some from people who chose to remain anonymous and others who volunteered their identities. It’s no secret that the gym has grown considerably over the last 18 months or so and with that have come some growing pains. As someone truly passionate about trying to provide a safe and inclusive atmosphere for people to train, I’m excited about our growth and all the peoples’ lives we’ve been able to affect in the process. As a business owner I’m also aware that growth can be tricky enterprise to manage and the quality, not quantity of what we do will always be the most important feature of a successful business.
Happily, the overwhelming majority of feedback was generally positive, but as one would expect there are always going to be significant ways to improve the atmosphere, logistics, and coaching quality as well as considering the diversifying training needs of our members. So what are we doing with all this feedback? Well, first off, every coach is going to read every single entry, which we will then use as a team to inform our discussions on how we can better serve you. We’ve already been talking in staff meetings about new ways of maximising training time within a class and considering the needs of veteran versus novice athletes. One example being how we’re going to modify barbell warm-ups and fitness versus performance programming as well as time management in the upcoming cycle. Gross changes will be gradual and no doubt with varying levels of success, but it’s our honest commitment to try and do the best possible job we can, attempting to maintain what has brought us so much success in the first place while staying humble and realizing there will always be areas that need work. The search for additional space also continues–not exactly an easy enterprise given New York City real estate and the very significant requirements of a gym interested in serious barbell and fitness training. That being said, we are always open to suggestions should you be aware of additional industrial space in Gowanus. The more options we have coming in on top of our own search the better. (Please send possible ideas to David AT CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com.)
Again, thank you to everyone who took a moment to fill out the form. We hear you and want you to know that your opinions are important and are being factored into the decisions we make as we continue to evolve this experiement that started almost seven years ago outside in a park under the subway.
Bike Maintenence Class Tomorrow at CFSBK
Springtime weather is around the corner and CFSBK wants to help you prepare for bike riding season! Bicycle Habitat will be bringing their basic bike maintenance class from their 5th Avenue shop to 597 DeGraw specially for CFSBK, 2:30p-4p on Saturday, April 5. Course will include:
- Flat repair tips, including time saving techniques and ways to ensure a successful repair.
- Basic brake and gear adjustment, including familiarity with barrel adjusters.
- Maintenance tips like drivetrain lubrication and proper tire inflation.
- Checking for signs of wear and an overview of bike safety checks.
- Time for open Q&A.
You’ll be able to roll in your own bike to use as an example during the class! The class will be more instructional in nature, but bring any bike tools you already have in case there is time for tinkering! $10 per person, class is capped at 25. Sign up and pay in advance at the Front Desk or just show up and pay day of!
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CrossFit and Autism: Walking out With a Smile Coach Brian C has been to CFSBK several times and is a friend of the program. Check out his awesome program at CrossFit Long Island
Got Kipping Pull-Ups? Scale up with the Salmon Ladder
Big Sugar’s Sweet Little Lies Mother Jones
crossfitsbk@gmail.com says
SATURDAYS WOD:
"Morrison"
50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:
Wall Ball 20/14 to a 10' Target
Box jump 24/20" (jump is Rx'd, step is scaled)
Kettlebell Swing, 53/35
*There will be a 40 minute cap on this WOD.
As Rx'd, Morrison is 450 total reps (a shit ton!)
B Scale: 40-30-20-10 reps for time (100 reps each movement)
C Scale: Partner version is very appropriate for newer folks, and a hell of a workout. Split the work evenly in sets as desired. (75 reps each movement)
Jim Morrison says
i put together a WOD similar to this back in '68.
"The Lizard King"
50 Beers
40 Shots of Whiskey
30 Tokes of Marijuana
20 Tokes of Hashish
10 Tabs of Acid
No time cap, but this took me 3 days. July 4-6, 1968, Los Angeles, California.
I asked Janis about a scaled version of this and she just gave me a look with her famous grin and laughed……
Alexncox@gmail.com says
6am with Foxnick and McMelo
Scaled Amanda: 5 muscleups, 9 "squat snatches" @ 135, 4 muscleups, 7 squat snatches, 3 muscleups, 5 squat snatches.
15:00 exactly I think, maybe 15:01
I went to sleep visualizing muscle up kips last night and I think it helped! First round of 5 muscleups were all linked together without coming off the rings. Previous PR is two or three. The snatches were heavy for me. I caught a couple in the squat for realz but almost all of these were power snatches that I rode down. I realized that I can get down when I want, but I actually have trouble receiving the weight in that position, so now I have something specific to work on, which is exciting.
Cashed out with some muscleup practice and got some good pointers from Fox on hook grippin'. Very happy with the muscleups today.
David, have a great trip. Viel Spass beim Doom Metal!
Stella says
Yesterday's work, because not gonna lie, I really did not feel like doing Morrison. 12:20 with 68# snatch. Maybe should have gone 73, although that would have slowed me down considerably.
After the situp cashout I tried ring dips — 5 sets of 3 with the orange band. Maybe my need for a band is purely psychological — going to try unassisted next time.
Jerry Garcia says
Hey Jim: Your "Lizard King" WOD is disappointingly alcohol-biased. I'd suggest the following friendly amendments:
"The Sugar Magnolia"
50 Tokes of Marijuana
40 Tokes of Hash
30 Mushrooms
20 Pills of Ecstasy (my grandkids turned me on to this stuff, and man, its groovy!)
10 Tabs of Acid
When do we jam again? I mean, I know you're down in LA, and we're up here in SF, but dude, jump on the PCH and come hang sometime.
Love,
Jerry
Camille says
Would love to know Jim M's WOD for 'Ride The Snake' (guessing similar to The Lizard King but with a ludes cash out)
Couldnt make it to Wed and Thurs Crush wods BUT GLAD I AM RETURNING JUST IN TIME FOR THE MOST BRUTALIST ONE!
Penny looking so dignified btw! <3
KH a.k.a. Cage says
Morrison, 34:31 "rxed". I'm putting it in quotes because even though I truly, honestly tried to hit the 10' target, I would say I succeeded maybe 50-70% of the time. And let's be honest – I wasn't gonna no rep myself on that shit. I found this WOD to be mentally crushing in addition to it obviously being physically crushing. I just kept thinking that if I kept going, I could eventually "fly through" the rounds of 20 and 10, "maybe unbroken". Ha!
KH a.k.a. Cage says
Oh, and I definitely earned myself the right to be part of the "Quad Squad" after this one. Woof!
MattyChm says
6am with Fox and Melissa
Did the fitness version because muscle ups are for losers.
Rx'd at 115# in 16:33 and wasn't exactly paying attention to the rep scheme because I did 15-12-9 instead of 15-9-6. Apparently Our Lady of Sorrows Elementary School was weak on math skills. So nice to be able to run outside even if it was sprinkling a bit.
Looking forward to Morrison tomorrow.
Pigeon says
Morrison, 33:50 Rx'd.
Was great working out next to Cage to keep a good pace since she rested very little on the box jumps and the KB swings, until I got to the round of 20 BJs, when I realized I can finish this without resting till the end.
I was so glad it was over, and rewarded myself with the new CFSBK shorts.
Swole!
Brad D says
Can't wait to take on this nonsense tomorrow, and check out the new merch. Are there more Men's medium CFSBK skull and crossbones tees too? I lost mine while travelling a few weeks back and when I tried to replace it at the front desk they were out of stock – sad face.
Nate says
6AM with Fox and Melissa
Amanda. It didn't go smoothly. Per the Fox, I need to turn my hands out and start kipping muscle ups. As it stands I look like a disabled salmon flopping upstream. The snatches weren't great but as I fatigued I started getting under them faster, which was good. Should've been a TKO at 15:00 but Melissa let me finish in 18ish minutes.
micheleaw@gmail.com says
10am with Noah.
Did Morrison in 29:30 "RX"
I used the quotes for RX too because I used the RX weights, but I did get a bunch of no reps I did not no rep myself for. I did not even know that a women's wall ball target was ever 10 foot and so was going for 9, and didn't even hit that every time!
The box jumps were fine. The kettle bell swings were really rough. Overall I feel like I rested a lot more than I should have.
These are 3 movements I generally like but put together with that volume = Really challenging WOD.
ryanmjoyce@gmail.com says
8:30 last night with MeLo.
Hadn't properly attempted an MU since well before my O-meet, but wanted to do the progression to practice. Surprised myself by making my first attempt, and took MeLo's recommendation to try Amanda.
Did the following in 15 minutes:
3 muscle-ups, 9 snatches (115 lbs)
3 muscle-ups, 7 snatches
1 muscle-up, 5 snatches
Snatches felt amazing last night, and that's not a terrible result for me on the MUs. Still battling my false grip, which I find tough to hold. I didn't miss any attempts where I held the grip, but if I slipped to my fingers I was as good as toast. Left with some good pointers from MeLo, hope to be back on the rings again soon.
Charlie Sheen says
Jim, Jerry, you guys are oddlots. #winning
Lauren Bates says
7am with Fox – yesterday's WOD
Did the snatches at a very light weight of 52# and finished in 13:40. Snatches felt really difficult and disorganized. Burpees and run felt easy in comparison.
Hoping snatches will be part of the programming for next cycle and I think I really need to start working on them at OG. Seeing the other girls do this WOD at much heavier weights is definitely motivation for me!
Charlie says
Strength Cycle last night.
LBBS
45 x 5, 95 x 5, 155 x 3, 185 x 2, 192.5 x 5 x 3.
Somehow this felt smoother than 190!!
Bench Press
45 x 5, 65 x 4, 75 x 2, 90 x 1, 95 x 5 x 3.
Still in my comfort zone. Besides the shoulder thing.
Chin-ups- 4 x 5 ๐
Just ran a 5k In 24 mins. I am trying to do this on Fridays- more for recovery and to keep some level of conditioning throughout Strength Cycle rather than for time but this was a whole 3 mins faster than the first time I did this so I am pretty happy about that. Though perhaps the rain made me run faster!
Not sure I will keep doing this the whole way through but it has been fine up to this point.
100 abmat sit-ups afterwards so I can still like I am feel part of the gang. Did this on Wednesday too. I feel like I should add some planks in somewhere but they are SO BORING.
David- have fun in Europe! Berlin is such an incredible city. If I had not moved here, I would have moved there. Does this mean there is no AR tomorrow?
Camille says
yes! have fun in europe/ and safe travels, DO! jealous about your trip to tilburg especially!
Spencer H says
7am – yesterday's WOD with Fox.
Scaled the snatches to 500/400/300 rows on account of my knee. Despite taking it fairly easy on the rows, muscle-ups became kind of a shitshow as my back fatigued. Good number of missed attempts in there. Took me around 15-something. Thanks to Fox for the cues to get those last reps.
Whit H says
Aw, nice to see my little Penny Pie on the blog! She is currently pawing at my side to play with her instead of writing this post. Props to Bekka P for snapping the shot.
make-up post from 10AM yesterday with lady fox:
Fitness WOD at 65#.
Time = 9:55
Was tempted to do RX'ed (75), but after pulling that a few times, it just didn't feel speedy and I wanted to keep things moving quick, rather than slog through in smaller sets. Glad I chose what I did. Need to keep butt lower and chest higher in start position.
Looking forward to Morrison… I guess.
Stella says
ACK! Charlie — good question. *Is* there AR tomorrow? I was planning on it but if it's not gonna happen, maybe I will go in the opposite direction and come in for Morrison ๐
KMo says
Why aren't step-ups considered rx-ed? Aren't they acceptable in the Open/Games?
Chrisfoxnyc@Gmail.com says
KMo – yes they are acceptable in the Open, but not for this Hero WOD. Keeping the intention of it I guess. Feel free to step away as a scaling option, many fills will.
AR is on for tomorrow and next week as well!
katharinereece@gmail.com says
You guys are pretty hilarious.
Ellie wrote us a WOD on Thursday morning in New Orleans, where we've both been listening to editors and writers talk about editing and writing. In the non-luxury of our hotel gym, we did five rounds of 90 second sprints on the treadmill + 90 seconds of man-makers alternated with lunges, 20# dumbbells on both. I'd never done man-makers before and now understand how they get their name.
Today, I did more interval sprints (10 minutes of 60 second sprints + 60 second jogs) + a 1.5 mile jog. Not super intense, but I could barely extend my arms when I got here on Tuesday and had a nightmare that I got rhabdo.
Not too sad I'm missing all the pain in BK, but I'll be back and ready to get destroyed on Sunday!
JakeL says
Snatch
176
198
220
242
264
265x
265x
242 double, missed second
242 double
220 triple
Power clean+3 jerks
220
242
253
264
275
Bench Press
285×5
285×4, failed 5th
275×5
JakeL says
Oops,
275x, not 265!! God forbid
Todd says
All good news on the feedback^2!
Have a good trip DO, bring me back some hagelslag, stroopwafels, and spacecakes. ๐
Mellow OG tonight:
Snatch
40×3 50×2 60×1 65×1 70×1 75×1 80xM,1 75×1,1,M,1,1,1
Power clean > push jerk > jerk
50×1 60×1 70×1 75×1 80×1 85×1 90xC
6×5 c2b pull-ups