Matty C. hitting his jerk at the Oly meet on Sunday. Have you signed up for Coach Frank’s next Oly lifting cycle? In Matty’s own words: “I cant say enough about this Oly Class. If you are struggling to understand the nuances of these lifts, take the class. If you feel you have a pretty good handle on the lifts, take the class. It took the full 8 weeks to break some of my bad habits and I am so thrilled I am starting to move more efficiently.” Learn more and sign up here!
- There’s a trove of new items in Lost and Found! Claim your stuff, or we’re giving it away.
2014’s CFSBK Events In Review
As Coach David noted in his recent Inside the Affiliate article “Why Are CrossFit Gyms So Expensive?“, if you’ve met someone who loves their gym, that love is probably contingent on a great atmosphere, and a great community—which is why we love putting together so many fun events for you at CFSBK! Huge thanks to our Cruise Director Mare L. who planned and actively organized almost all of these events, about which you should know:
- There were 25 total events including Memorial Day “Murph”, Fight Gone Bad, the first CFSBK Art Show, and a variety of potlucks
- 2/3 of these events were free to members, the remaining 1/3 had a cost ranging from $10 to $80 per person
- The majority of the events were hosted at CFSBK
- There were an average of two events per month with four in both February and May
- The most popular events (after Memorial Day “Murph”, Fight Gone Bad, the Art Show, and the potlucks) were the meditation workshops, snowshoeing, the Brooklyn Half Marathon party, and climbing at Brooklyn Boulders
Here’s the full list of events:
Pre-2014 Look Feel Perform Better Challenge potluck
Ice skating
Photo portraits with Bekka P.
Mario Kart tourney
C.R.A.S.H.-B.’s road trip
Post-2014 Look Feel Perform Better Challenge potluck
Snowshoe trip
UFC Fight Night
Meditation workshops
Bike repair class
Fish cooking class
Clothing and book swap
Brooklyn Half Marathon post-race party
Movie night
CrossFit Regionals viewings
Memorial Day “Murph”
Foraging class in Prospect Park
Dog adoption event
Dog training class
Standup paddleboarding trip
Co-WOD with Crow Hill CrossFit
Climbing classes at Brooklyn Boulders
Roller skating adventure
Fight Gone Bad 2014
CFSBK’s first Art Show
The Brooklyn Community Foundation Get Down event
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Hanging Hip Touches, Alternating Arms – Demo CrossFit
Red Panda Does Muscle Ups
Monsanto’s Roundup Herbicide—Featuring the Darth Vader Chemical The Institute for Responsible Technology
What was your favorite event at or through CFSBK in 2014? What events would you like to see this year?
Saturday's Programming
Back Squat
Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5-10 pounds.
Performance: Work up to a Heavy Single (80-90% of 1RM), then Max Reps at 80% of 1RM (capped at 20).
Post loads to comments.
e6/6
_____________________
Team WOD
In teams of 3 with one partner working at a time:
AMRAP 21 Minutes:
14/10 Calorie Row
14/10 Push Ups
Post rounds to comments.
Damn! That guy in the photo has some pretty spectacular form. I especially like the way he coordinated his outfit to match the plates he was lifting.
6am with McD and Nick
Made up Thursday's workout today.
Cleans felt crisp (finally) this morning. Hit 95#, 135# each for 2, then 1 x 185#, 225# . Fell backwards on rep 2 of the #225, then did 235#, #245. #250 would be a PR but I couldn't hit it today. Arms were still smoked from Wednesday's debacle of a WOD.
Metcon was spicy. Got 77 reps at the Rx weights. I definitely should have pushed harder in the 30 reps at 75#; I did 10 reps, then sets of 5, trying to save my arms for the C2B. Those turned out not to be bad. Did 7,7,7,5,4 for the C2B, then singles at 135# until I ran out of time.
My fav event this year was the art show. Really fun and different.
The potlucks and the art show were tops for me. Sign up for Frank's class because there is NOTHING GOOD ON TV NOW between the hours of 8:30 and 10 pm!
Except the national championship game next MondayI guess – but I can't imagine that any of our member possibly care about the outcome.
(Especially those who may have won the LFPB challange last year and are getting married soon and may have dark hair).
What events would I like to see? Um, CFSBKaraoke, obviously. I still think it would be an awesome charity event if people could bid on picking a song that a coach then had to sing. (the last time I proposed this to DO, though, he was, all, "Never in my gym." :P)
Came in to squat today. 215 for the single, and my depth proprioception STILL sucks. 🙁 I got depth on all my rep-out reps, though (190×8).
WOD with Brendan and Eric, 16 rounds + 12 pushups. I didn't even have to ask to go last, Nick just called it that way. Which is fun, because that means I did less work than the other two. I did the women's Rx and was pleasantly surprised to find that I could do all 5 rounds of pushups unbroken.
6am. Back squats: 135×5, 185×3, 225×2, 255×1, 275×1, 295×1, 260×9. Had trouble keeping my chest up on the rep-out. Metcon with Alex and Elliott: 24 rounds + 14 cals (Alex). Did all of the rounds between :41 and :43. Good consistency. Very pleased I was able to do all the push-ups unbroken. I'm now swole and will be walking around in a tank-top today despite the snow.
Stella seriously need CFSBKaraoke. Maybe DO will change his tune when he hears my rendition of Toto's 'Africa'.
In case you're not aware,Karaoke is coming to Gowanus, just around the corner…in case you need to get your fix and DO doesn't come around to the idea:
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141121/gowanus/owners-of-good-fork-opening-korean-bbq-karaoke-joint-gowanus
6am with Nick and McD. Been a while since I"ve done much of anything, so cleans felt slow and unorganized. Made it up to 150 but it wasn't pretty.
Worked at 65# for the metcon, 77 reps with regular kipping pull ups. Could have done 75# I guess. Weight wasn't a limiting factor so much as my hands just feeling raw. Guess thats what i get for being off the bar so long.
My favorite events are the potlucks and the art show.
Neil: Oh yes, I have heard this. There WILL be CFSBKaraoke sooner or later. Muahahahaha!
Cricket on the giant screen. I will explain all the rules. Y'all will instantaneously become DIE-HARD fans.
I'm serious about the cricket. World Cup next month!
To answer the other question: Loved the clothing/book swap. I picked up a bunch of good reads there, and just yesterday I wore the boots I got from Michelle B!
Also potlucks are always good.
Murph and FGB are my favorite days every year, but my favorite addition was easily the art show. So cool, and it even provided me a X-mas gift for the wife 🙂
Bummed to be missing out on THE VERY LAST EXPOSURE of the 9 week Boring But Big Challenge. Rolled my ankle and suffered what seems to be a light sprain yesterday so I can't really squat or deadlift. Wasn't even doing anything cool, just getting out of bed. May be good enough to lift tomorrow. Wish me luck.
PS – I will never do karaoke. I would eat Korean BBQ for charity though.
I loved the art show too! Everyone was impressed when I told them my gym hosted an art show too! haha
I would totally…watch others do karaoke lol Trust me-you don't want to see my shy/awkward self on stage with a mic. 🙂
6am
HBBS 235x5x3
slow, but steady. Never really felt in doubt of any of these.
Metcon with Peter and Elliot: 8 rounds each plus 14 cals.
Fun to workout with these fast guys. My first 4 rounds varied widely (46 to 58 seconds) as I tried different paces on the row. Had to break pushups up after the fourth round, and then my times were between 1:02 and 1:08. Thanks to Elliot who figured the individual times.
Partner workouts are the most fun.
My favorite event is definitely Murph. Everybody seems so excited and happy at Murph. FGB is a close second.
Last night at 7:30pm
Got some birthday PR action yesterday on the cleans – worked up to 225 (a 10lb PR), which felt great. Went for 235 twice, but just couldn't even wrap my head around it for some reason. Took a second, then backed off to 230 and hit that (kind of ugly, but still) for a new PR. I've been wanting to clean my body weight for a while, so that is DONE.
Did the WOD rx'd, and got 64 reps. Cruised through the first 30 snatches in under 2 minutes. Did the C2Bs in sets of 3 until the very end, and headed back towards the bar at around 6:30 or 7. 135# snatches felt ROUGH. Hit 4 ugly ones, missed 1. At the start of this cycle, though, the thought of doing any snatch workout at 135 would have been inconceivable for me, so just getting any reps at this weight constitutes a massive improvement. Pretty psyched.
I always love the potlucks and the art show was super fun! I also liked movie night when we watched Wet Hot American Summer, but that may have been 2013…?
I would definitely come to CFSBKaraoke. And I'm looking fwd to the meditation workshop next weekend!
Make up post from MU skills/drills I did last night before coaching:
5 rounds:
-3 ring stability (lateral strength, each side)
-3 proximal strength into 1 ring dip
-5 box humps
-3 banded transitions (blue band, slow pull)
Morning with McD,
Felt weak and dizzay, managed to power clean 150# a couple of times.
Crash B for an extremely mellow 20' but even that was a struggle.
Fun ride home in the snow.
My favorite event was FGB, the part where people were dressed up in cutout denim and i thought thats what they wear on a regular basis was funny as hell.
Neil, Jenny M & Coach Fox,
I'm extremely interested and excited about this Korean BBQ place. Not only because I'm a meat-loving Korean, but because the only other joint in the area (up on 7th Av) is barely edible. But karaoke? Don't mix meat and mics.
Speaking of meat, I'm coming in for Open Gym for some Meathead Monday action. Anyone else? Anyone? Burpees? Bueller?
FGB and the Art Show were definitely favorites of mine. So much positive, strong energy.
I would just like to further support the cause for CFSBKareoke, and it could even include a performance by the "CFSBK Experimental Dance Troupe" to sweeten the deal!
CFSBK(orean bbq)
Oh, and my favorite events in the gym were Murph, FGB, the Subway Series, the potlucks, and the art show. I really, really love the vibe at CFSBK during the competitive stuff!
I need tech help. I cannot figure out how to create a tab for myself on the LFPB tracker.
@Joy – looks like someone just populated the template instead of duplicating it. I created a new template by copying mine and deleting all the data. You should see it now in the Google sheet. Just hit the arrow on the tab that says "CHALLENGE TEMPLATE," and then select the "Duplicate" option. When the copy appears, renamed the copy as you, and move it into alpha order.
@Michael C. Thanks!
Seriously, David. What's your problem, bro?
FGB for sure, huge fun and and inspiring and for a good cause, and Murph a great day too.
Question for Oly folks: how did you balance the Oly class with regular classes? I'm trying to figure out how M-W 8:30-10pm coexists with (now) Tu, Wed, Th, Sat, Sun at 6am/8am. Thanks in advance for any wisdom, hard-earned or otherwise.
@Scott:
MattChm is the morning guy so hopefully he will share his thoughts . . . (and of course the coaches who all know much more than me . . . )
Recommended scenario is to try and go to open gym at least once to do some light technique work (Frank sketches this out for everyone on Wednesday) and then hit one of the squat exposures. I have a hard time getting to open gym so I tried to go to the snatch or clean day instead (assuming its part of the programming template) to get some extra Olympic lifting in.
@Scott — OG is where it's at for the Oly program, because Frank will probably put down to squat, do technique work (on C&J or snatch) and also snatch pulls or clean pulls. Because I was doing CRASH-Beasts as well I normally needed 2 hrs for all that stuff, sometimes 2.5! Jay's idea is good too. If you can't do the OG, you'd likely looking at Sat & Sun AM, doing so little turnaround between sessions during the week sounds intense.
6am. BSQ: 185×3 / 225×1 / 255×1 / 275×1 / 240×10. That was a slow ten but glad I hit all those reps.
Partner WOD with Peter and Alex. 24 rounds + 14 cals for Alex. My fastest round was :45 and slowest was 1:03. Had to break up the pushups after about 4 rounds – usually 8/3/3 or so. Fun but tough workout.
Loved both FGB and Murph. Not sure which was better – pretty close.
I have an intense fear of Karaoke, OKAY!??
I agree with what Karaoke had to say. It's okay, an outing is already in the works on Cam's facebook page. And Chris! The Korean place will have private rooms for karaoke, so I don't think those in the restaurant will be unwillingly serenaded by an off-key version of "Friends in Low Places" while eating… Eat first, karaoke second. You don't even have to switch locations–> sounds perfect!
The Handstand Workshop was my favorite event! Or FGB! Every event has been really amazing; any gym that hosts art shows or movie nights in addition to great workouts and coaching is awesome!
Scott:
The Oly Class comes with 2 group classes. My schedule was as follows.
Mon PM – Oly Class
Tues AM – Meathead Monday Workout
Wed PM – Oly Class
Thurs OFF
Fri AM or Sat AM – Saturday's Squat Work
Sun OFF
Going from PM Oly Class to 6am the next morning was rough but doable. Due to scheduling problems I did two-a-days on Monday once or twice. That sucked. Balls.
Feel free to ask me about it in class.
Just realized I outed myself as "Karaoke".
HA! At least now DO knows it wasn't me 😛
@MattyChm…that had me rolling!
Karaoke is fine…just not in our gym. I mean guys, the acoustics wouldn't be great, you'd be either too cold or hot depending on the time of year, and the lighting is awful. This is much better left to a small dark studio outside of the gym. 😉
Today's quick lifting:
LBBS:
(45×5, 115×5, 165×3, 195×1)
210x5x3
-after videoing some of my squats on Monday I realized that I was resurrecting an old habit of shifting forward into my knees on the ascent. Been focusing hard to stay back and it seemed better today.
-will continue with 5# jump on Monday.
Press:
(45×5, 65×5, 75×3)
80x5x3
-only 2# jump next week.
3RNFT:
4 chinups
10 ghd situps
10 back extensions
also, my favs of the year were art show, fgb and murph. I'd love to see movie nights come back and the rumored Battle of the Bands!
yeah whatever happened to battle of the bands????
i am aOK with karaoke at the new spot 😀 plus i love korean bbq!!
my faves were def FGB, LFPB potluck and the art show!
Awesome, thanks all, esp Karaoke! Got it. I'm going in.
Open Gym w/ Coach Melo
The Return of Meathead Monday!
Bench:
185×5, 205×1, 215×1 PR
Felt pretty easy. New goal: 225
Deadlift:
225×5, 255×5, 275×5, 285×5 PR
The last few of the 285 were ugly, but I got them up. (Also having Coach JB and Kate Harpz pulling crazy weight in front of me was awesome.)
My wrists couldn't "handle" 100 burpees, so Coach Melo suggested 100 Wall Balls:
20, 15, 10, 8, 7, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Yuck.
Just signed up for the PM Olympic Lifting Cycle. Sorry 6am, I'll only be seeing you on Friday's for the next 8 weeks. I'm going to lift the fuck out of some weights.
Great OG. Good enery, lots of people, MELO was on the mic.
Snatch w/pause below knee+Snatch
220(1+1)
231(1+1)
242(1+1)
253(1+1)
264(1+1F)
275 w/pauseF
275w/pause
CJ
220
264
286
308
330
341
Front Squat
365
385F
345 w/pausex2
355 w/pausex2
Clean Pulls,
405x3x3
Fun times at OG. Was gifted some unexpected time tonight.
FSQ: 45×5, 95×3, 125×1
130x3x3
Almost dumped the first rep of last set b/c i just dropped my chest/elbows and came way fwd. Managed to recover and then corrected the mistake on the second two. Fine speed, feeling good. It feels so great to be squatting again with weight and without pain!
200 DU's, with no particular fire under my a$$.
48-46-16-26-and then a bunch of smaller ish sets under 20 reps.
Eventually… got around to doing Thursday's workout alongside JB and Morgan.
In 10 min, got through 30 snatches @ 45, 30 regular kipping pull-ups, and 23 snatches at 75.
So, 83 reps with reg pull-ups.
What's crazy is that I haven't done kipping pull-ups in exactly 2 WHOLE MONTHS since my shoulders were giving me trouble in November. Time flies. Was happy to stick with regular. C2B would've taken a 1/2 supinated grip and probably a bunch more time.
All things considered, I'm happy with this. Pull-ups felt decent and overall stronger b/c I've been working more strict lately. Yay. Just a bit of leftover conversation in the L shoulder for a few minutes after the workout.
Snatches were fine, but 75 felt a lot heavier than I had hoped.
Did a modified version of Wednesday's workout at Class One. I normally don't post my workouts that I do outside of SBK, but want to hold myself accountable for staying on track for the LFPB challenge.
I did light lifting because I thought I was going to come in for today's WOD (posting this on Saturday) and do back squats so I didn't want to go heavy on the front squats. I was fooling myself and knew I would never make it in bc I was so exhausted from having two bad nights of sleep this week and knew I would be sleeping in! Plus I had to be at work by 2 today to run a Saturday program at school. The good news is I slept 11 hours and feel great even though I didn't make it to the gym! Anyway, here is my workout:
light press: 3×10 @43#
light front squat: 3×10@63#
strict bar dips: 3 x 2 Planned on doing negative dips on the rings, but I haven't worked on dips in a while and they felt impossible when I got on the rings.
WOD: 4 rounds of 4 power cleans, 4 front squats, 4 shoulder to overhead. Although I read that people struggled with the shoulder to overhead more than they thought they would, I decided to try it at 93# which I knew it would be a reach. I did the first round in less than a minute, but felt like I had done an entire WOD already. I wasn't sure I could make it through the next three rounds without taking a full 1-2 minute rest in between each round and without breaking up the shoulder to overhead. If I kept going, my form would have been horrible for the remaining 3 rounds of S2O and there was a possibility that I may not have been able to do them at all. Maybe if I had been at SBK with coaches and members encouraging me, I would have been able to do it…but def couldn't get myself to do it on my own! So…I decided to take a 3 minute rest, drop the weight to 83# and start over with four rounds. My time with 83# was 5:27. I was planning on hitting the bag after this, but that was an intense 5 and a half minute workout even after dropping the weight so I just finished up with some handstand practice and called it a day! My wrists hurt after the S2O, but the handstands gave them a nice stretch. I've been foam rolling every night at home instead of at the gym bc my cats have fun and think it's play time when I'm laying on the floor!
Thank you DO for sending the email about keeping on track for the weekend (and now I realize there is a forum to post on for the challenge)! I was really close to stopping at Donut Plant for a PB&J donut on my way to the gym, but didn't bc of your email and kept clean the whole day!