“Angie”
For Time:
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
100 Squats
Post time and Rx to comments.
Strength Cyclers in their post-Total glory
News and Notes
- Coaches David, MeLo, Noah, and the Foxes are heading to California this week to watch the 2014 CrossFit Games. Catch all the Games’ action on ESPN starting Friday from 6-7pm PT, Saturday 5-7pm PT, and Sunday on ESPN2 from 5-6pm PT.
- Serious congrats to Endurance Coach Michael O., who stole the record for fastest time around the Prospect Park loop this weekend, at 23:42. ALSO: he is looking for a couple more runners to compete in NYRR’s final Tuesday Night Speed Series at 7pm at Icahn Stadium. Email him for more details if you’re interested, michael.olzinski [at] gmail.com.
- Evan R. PR-ed his 10K time at 39:40!
Want to Learn to Do a Standing Back Flip?
Now is your chance. Join guest gymnastics coach Ken H. THIS SATURDAY as he takes you through various progressions leading up to doing standing back flips. If you participated in the previous back flip class, feel free to take this one to improve your skills.
Buy-in: Guys: Power clean 125% of your body weight; Gals: Power clean 100% of your body weight
Time: Saturday, July 26th, 2-3:30pm
Cost: $20
The class is capped at 8 participants, so don’t think twice! Register Here!
Ken Haller’s Bio
Ken was a nationally competitive gymnast in Newton, MA and at the University of Michigan. After graduating, Ken coached for eight years at Capital Gymnastics in Northern Virginia where he coached regional and national champions. His students have gone on to be NCAA champions and members of Cirque du Soliel. In searching for an activity to replace gymnastics, Ken filled the void with rock climbing and yoga for the past ten years and recently found CrossFit to round out his training.
Zen and the Art of Crush Week
By David Osorio
Originally posted on 11.16.2011
In traditional meditative disciplines, you aim to cultivate mindfulness in a physically neutral setting. Often the practitioner sits in a comfortable position and tries to bring attention toward their breathing. In yoga, we see a more dynamic approach where rhythmic breathing becomes interwoven with a controlled flow through a series of postures. In both of these instances, the intention is for the pilot to become more tuned in to the “now.”
In CrossFit, we achieve something very similar through a very different approach. During an intimidating lift or difficult conditioning piece, you’re forced to deal with the moment at hand. The high discomfort level of what we do takes that moment and amplifies the physical inputs to the point where you can’t help but focus on what’s happening. You know this intuitively and it’s why you get nervous before a 500m erg test or 3 Rep Max back squat attempt. You know that once you start, you’ll be forced to deal with the “now” until it’s all over. Every second gets dragged out and every moment to rest or doubt yourself becomes amplified against what needs to get done.
Take this opportunity to set your intention for the approaching workouts. Whenever you find yourself deep in the agonizing “now” embrace it and stay on task. Don’t look around the room to see where everyone else is, don’t check the clock to see how much time has gone by, and don’t make excuses to try and avoid what you’re feeling. Just keep fighting the barbell up or chipping away at reps until you’ve completed the task. If you lose focus and get derailed, don’t let it mess with your head, just come back pushing harder. Remember, you’re here to get stronger, both physically AND mentally.
Enjoy Crush Week, which starts TODAY!
Mighty Strength Cyclers: How did your Total go yesterday??
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Love People, Not Pleasure New York Times
Price of the Platform Bryan Krahn
How Colors Smell The Atlantic
Emotions of CrossFit
6am with Nick and McD
A cool breeze this morning helped a bit to keep my core temp under 200 degrees while tackling Angie this morning. Hit 20:51 Rx while chasing Brad as he flew through the pullups and pushups. Great team effort by everyone today, lots of fun cheering and support. Good vibes to start crush week for sure.
Have a great Monday everyone.
6am with NickDowell. It was my first time doing Angie and I didn't realize it's chipper style, so I had to change my game plan. I ended up scaling to 50 ring rows and 50 push-ups – 25 strict and 25 from the knees. Finished in 15:57. Echoing Michael, it was a fun team effort this morning!
Congrats to all of the strength cyclers! Looking forward to hearing about your crushing totals!
Oh my god the Total you guys! I'm still in shock that this happened.
Squat 215/235(PR)/250(PR) (!!!!!!!) I hadn't even dreamed of that last number — I had thought that I wanted to nail 225, then hit 235 or 240 as a stretch goal. I was totally obsessing about whether to open at 225 because I have a history of failing third attempts — so the second attempt is often where the magic happens with me, and I wanted to have already hit 225 by then. But I ended up taking Jeremy's sage advice of opening with a weight you know you could do a double at if you had to. Then I decided, screw it, it is totally arbitrary to want to have squatted the exact number 225, so I took a big jump. 235 felt so good that I decided to go for it and I'm SO GLAD I did.
Press 90/95F/92.5F. This was the only frustrating lift of the day. 90 is my previous PR but I know I'm stronger than that after this cycle. Just could not get the bar past my eyes. But I can't be mad about that given the squat and the deadlift.
Deadlift 265/280(PR)/290F. I had a better idea coming in on how I would do on the deadlift than the other two lifts, given what the weights were where I started failing in SC. I wanted to hit 280 and I did! 290 wouldn't come more than an inch off the floor. But again, I can't be upset about it. I remember in my first year of CF being ecstatic to deadlift my own body weight. I told Jess this excitedly, and she said something about how some women have the goal of hitting twice their body weight. Well, there it is. ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED.
This Total was for the ladies! (13 women, 4 men) Favorite moments:
* Adele making a huge save to PR her squat
* Amy swearing every time she put down the bar after making a huge deadlift
* Ruth letting herself be peer-pressured into a 250-pound deadlift attempt, and then NAILING it like it was nothing
* Mel getting caught in the middle of a mouthful of potato chips (?) when it was her turn to press. ("Swallow first!" "That's what SHE said!")
* Dave lifting ALL THE WEIGHT
* Getting to see my 7 AM bro Pigeon post up some awesome numbers — I have a feeling we won't be squatting together in the mornings any more!
* And of course my girl Charlie hitting 315 on the deadlift! WOWZA!
6am. Angie Rx: 23:40. Quite a bit off from my PR (sub-20), but I'm 20# heavier now which isn't terribly helpful for bodyweight movements. Echoing others: good vibe in the gym this morning.
I like the photo of Jeremy surrounded by a posse of strong women.
6am with McD and Nick.
Angie @ 26.58 Rx. Moved pretty well through the pull-ups but the push-ups really slowed me down. A bit disappointing there but looking forward to trying this one again in the future.
Those numbers on the board from the Total were impressive. Congrats all!
6am w/ McNick:
Angie, she is a sweetheart. 19:55 Rx.
Everything moved well. The pull-ups broke down a little faster than I expected, started out at sets of 8 then moved to 5's. The pushups were sets of 10 for the first 50, then 5's. Situps were just boring and moved through the air squats.
6am with McD and Nick.
Good crew this morning. My first Angie attempt, finished 22:01. Started at the 10 minute mark so felt like I was behind the whole time, which helped pushed me along. Scaled the pull ups to 50 strict ones. After 30, had to switch to ring rows.
Big shout out to Michael A for cheering me on through my entire set of squats and forcing me to man up and cut the rest to a minimum.
I'm looking for someone to buy my August meat share. It's the big share: 20 lbs for $160. Looking for a permanent share buddy, too, if you're interested. Hit me up! lvs3h(at)virginia(dot)edu.
Also, congrats to all the strength cycle folks! Amazing work! So impressed, as always, by the crazy strong women at CFSBK!
hey folks looking for the same on our August meat share. 30 pounds of animal. This will trade, best bid wins it. jimmyr72(at)gmail(dot)com
Great job totalers! Could still smell the PRs in the air at OG last night.
Snatch
40×3 50×2 60×1 70×1 80xM,1 84xM,M 70xM,1,1,1,1
Felt strong when I started so I tried to go heavy but it wasn't happening today, hit some singles at 70 instead.
Snatch Pulls
90x3x3
Push press max single
45×5 95×4 135×3 165×2 185×1 195×1 (PR) 200xM,M,1 (PR)
Hadn't push pressed in a while so wanted to see what a heavy single felt like here. 195 went up smoothly but 200 gave me some trouble. Finally nailed the last one but had a little stutter step at the press-out.
Sled Sprints
50Mx5 loaded @ 80#, rest as needed
Ouch.
AMAZING Total yesterday with the ladies (+ 4 dudes)
Squats: 135/145/155
These were nerve–racking.When I did the 155lbs walk-out on Wednesday I though there was no way I could squat that. But after 145 I knew I could do it. I'm in disbelief after being stuck in the 80-100lbs range for over a year.
Press: 65/70F/70F
I opened with my last total number and got stuck in the same place as last time. I know I'm stronger, so I'm not overly upset about the fails. I'll need to focus more on my technique and staying tight.
Deadlift: 180/190/200
My all time favorite lift. I was nervous about this but felt confident that if the bar moved up from the floor it would go all the way up. I loved reaching that 200 mark.
This was an extraordinarily special Strength Cycle. The group dynamic was really strong even within the different cycles. It was challenging, but I think I speak for all Strength Cyclers when I say that Jeremy took our workout to the next level. I have a better awareness of how my body is moving. I always felt it was safe workout with attention to form and that I was maximize my training potential. Thanks Coach Jeremy and everyone who came yesterday to cheer us on!
Ditto to what Michelle and Stella said about the Total yesterday. It was my first Strength Cycle (and first time lifting in front of an audience!) and I was pretty nervous. I am amazed at what I was able to do yesterday. Big thanks to Jeremy and my lifting partner Michelle for helping me, little by little, push myself beyond where I thought I could go.
It felt good to hit the numbers, but what I find even more amazing is how the opportunities at CFSBK — first CrashBs and now Strength Cycle — have impacted other areas of my life. I don't think it is a coincidence that during CrashB training I finally finished, submitted and got my first short story published. I have boxes of rough drafts, but never had the discipline to finish and put myself out there. Now I'm finding time and steadily chipping away at my first novel. CFSBK helped me learn how to just show up, do the work and I'm very grateful for that. Oh, and Jay said I should do Strength when I didn't think I could and introduced me to CF in the first place, so I guess I have to give him a little credit. 🙂
Total: 435#
Squat: 150# PR
Press: 80# PR
Deadlift: 205# PR
I (well, really, Joel) have an extra ticket to the Moth Grandslam event at Williamsburg Hall of Music tonight, 7pm, if anyone wants it. $25, general admission. Since it's for tonight I'm not going to post it in the classifieds. Email me (or him) if you want it–no obligation to hang or even be seen with me if you want it, I don't want to hurt your street cred, I just want you to be entertained for the evening. jennajerman a/ gmail
6 am w. Nick and McDowell.
Angie @ 32:XX Rx (can't remember the seconds off the top of my head). First time doing a benchmark workout as Rx, so I'm happy to have gotten through it! The kipping pull-ups slowed me down the most (took ~17 min); moving forward I need to work on linking longer sets of these and/or taking shorter breaks between sets. Big thanks to McDowell for the coaching and pacing through the workout and a HUGE thanks to the 6 am crew for cheering me through until the end. It was greatly appreciated, even if my face didn't show it at the time!
Congrats to all the totalers!
Coaching the noon class through Angie inspired me to work out today. Did a scaled version to keep it quick. Ring rows since I need to work more strict movement with the shoulder.
50 hard ring rows, 50 push-ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats
16:02
Ring rows: 10-10-5-5-5-5-5-5, done at about 4 minutes
Push ups: All sets of 5, done just after 9 minutes
Sit-Ups: 50-25-25
Squats: 25-25-20-30
Just realized I forgot to post from Saturday too:
Snatch: 63, 63, 83, 93, 103, 113F, 113F — was staring at the bar, which means I obviously have commitment issues. DROP DOWN!
HBBS: 45×5, 95×3, 125×2 Heavy Attempts: 140×3, 150×3
Felt really speedy and awesome. Would've tried for 160 but I had to go teach yoga!
Agreed on all previous comments re strength cycle. A special time. Great friends. Great coach.
My numbers:
Squat: 265 / 280 / 300 (PR).
Press: 135 / 145 / 150 (PR).
Deadlift: 345 / 360 / 270 (PR).
Total: 820 (PR).
I made an animated GIF of my 280 lift (thanks Jay for taking the original video) – https://imgflip.com/gif/ahk1y. More generally, there are a bunch of photos and videos (many of me, sorry) on my Instagram feed at http://instagram.com/brooklynrob
… meant 370 on the 3rd deadlift obviously.
Yesterday was so much fun! Everything Stella and Michelle said. Thanks for the list of favorite moments Stella; you nailed it.
Squat 225/245(PR)/255(PR)
255 was where I had failed the last time so I was really, really happy that it went up, and pretty fast, at that! It was really strange as the bar somehow felt lighter than usually when I untracked it. Must have been the heavy walkouts on Thursday.
Press 80/85F/82.5(PR)
I what a difference 2.5# makes! Margie pointed out that I was breathing in as I pressed for the second attempt, so I fixed that and for my third, the bar moved quickly, so I think maybe I should have 85 if I am willing to fight for it, but I never seem to be with this lift, for some reason.
Deadlift 300/315(PR)/330F
My goal was to get on the leaderboard with this and once I had achieved that, I went all out and tried 330. It wasn't pretty and I hitched it up but it is definitely within reach. So, I am joint third place with my gym wife Serene, which is something I am extremely proud of and never would have thought possible a few months ago. Also, it was a great moment when Jeremy called me over to the boys' platform or the 315 platform, as he called it.
This was my second Total and it was just as nerve-wracking as the first, but this time I had a plan and I knew what numbers I wanted to hit. I hit 2/3. I feel like there is still room to grow and I am gutted that I can't do another Strength Cycle until November. Strength Cycle has been so good for me in many ways. I feel like I have proven myself to myself, if that makes sense, and I have found something I can actually be good at. Big thanks to Jeremy for everything. I'll miss the banter and the relaxed pace over on the platforms, as well as my barbell buddies.
Now I guess it's time to go and get better at Crossfit. I might wait until Back-Off Week though 🙂
Rob that GIF is awesome.
A very special group of people at yesterday's Total. Thanks to everyone who came and cheered.
It was my first total, and it was seriously a shit ton of fun.
Squats: 260/275/290
Press: 120/125/135F got greedy on that last one.
Deadlift: 315/335/345F I hitched the last one, also I learned what the fuck a hitch is.
One last anecdote, Ive been coming to CFSBK for a year and 2 months now. I have bought many of my out of town CF friends our skull and crossbones t-shirt, but never myself, because I felt like I needed to earn it. Yesterday, first time Strength Cyclers got a special t-shirt, I earned mine.
Thanks Jeremy, Rob, Joe, Michelle, Adele, Avi, Nick, Rich, Serene, Stella, Charlie, Pablo, Dave and everyone else who was on a platform yesterday, I look forward to finding everyone in gen-pop starting right after crush week.
the total was amazing. i was so nervous and came in last but — someone has to come in last, right? it was like a public service i did, so that no one else had to. plus, i kicked my old prs right in the ass. which wasn't super hard, since i've never done 1rms before, but still. yay.
the whole experience was bizarre though. i hate being the center of attention and was very nervous but then when i would step up to the bar it was like my mind when completely blank and there was no thinking at all. i honestly dont know if this worked to my advantage or disadvantage, but i guess i relied on muscle memory and adrenaline, and it worked pretty alright.
so psyched for another cycle. i have so much room to grow and cant wait to start again.
50 pull-ups (actually I went to 54, but I'm rounding down!)
100 pushups, situps, squats.
I was gonna leave the pushups at 50, but David set me right.
6:30 with DO and Ro
Angie -26:01rx – first 70 of pullups and pushups felt great…last 30 were painstakingly slow. The chipper style definitely adds a different element because I felt much better with the 100 pullups on Murph…definitely gotta keep working on my grip. Thanks Thomas for sticking it out with me.
"Coaches David, MeLo, Noah, and the Foxes are heading to California this week to watch the 2014 CrossFit Games. Catch all the Games' action on ESPN starting Friday from 6-7pm PT, Saturday 5-7pm PT, and Sunday on ESPN2 from 5-6pm PT."
Pretty sure McDowell is going to throw a kegger while everybody is gone.
Power Snatch triples, @70%x3x5
203x3x5
Jerks, @70%x3x4
258x3x4
HBBS
308x3x2
330x2x3
Clean DLs@88%
310x3x3
Planks
Amazing totals Strength Cyclers! Wow. And congrats Mike and Evan!
Tonight I joined Monday's Oly class impersonating Megan Dolce. Snatching actually felt good with some decent weight on the bar (for me). Plenty of errors, but no negative emotions or distracting thoughts. Approached 88# with confidence even after some ridiculous falls. Gave up on 93# twice, which I would have considered a record had I made it. But comfort at 88#, my current best, was a great feeling. So many supportive and illustrative pointers tonight. E.g.,
– feet and elbows/arms move/explode/land at the same time on clean/snatch
– make sure butt is moving up and in right position on first pull
– don't think
– chest up, puff shoulders, stable upper body on jerk dip
– sink into back leg on jerk, absorb
…although these don't sound as ground-breaking when I type them as when Heather and Frank were describing them. It's all about timing and delivery
Partnered with Steph and it went a little something like this:
Snatch: 63x2x2; 73×2; 83×1,F, x2; 88×1,F,x1; 93 F, F; 83×2 – These felt nice.
Clean, Push Jerk, Split Jerk: 83, 93, 103
C&J: 113x1x8 (at least) – Clean feels put together, Jerk getting better.
Did some DU practice (1:00) and plank holds (1:00) x 3 as a warm up. DUs were crappy today but at least I stopped piking. Feeling like I want to make up either yesterday's Row/BJ/OHS workout or Angie.