Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5-10 pounds to last week’s exposure.
Performance: 90% x 2, 80% x 10
Post loads to comments.
e5/8
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20 Minutes, Not For Rounds:
10-15 Kipping Toes to Bar
15-20 Games Standards Box Jumps 24/20
1:00 Plank Hold
Play around with technique and also with max and sub max sets. Use today to work on finding a pace that allows you to do more work overall and not burn out. For box jumps, all versions are acceptable: step up/step down, step up/drop down, jump up/jump down, jump up/step down. If you can’t yet perform toes to bar, sub knees to elbows or 5-10 Floor Levers instead.
Post what you worked on to comments.
Michael C., one of our LFPB Challenge winners (and last September’s Athlete of the Month!)
- Please note that ALL CLASSES ARE CANCELED this Saturday, as we are hosting the Iron Maidens Raw Open all day.
- DON’T FORGET TO RSVP TO CLASS: Click on the Class Schedule and RSVP tab in the left-hand column (under General Information) and select the class for which you’d like to RSVP.
Recapping the Look Feel Perform Better Challenge
We wrapped up another successful LFPB Challenge on Saturday night at our Community Potluck. Congratulations to our winners!
Men:
- Shawn T.
- Michael C.
- Joe B.
Women:
- Sarah P.
- Allie B.
- Kelly L.
Instead of offering you our thoughts on how well the Challenge went, we’ll let a few of our participants speak (anonymously) for themselves. Here are some highlights from their post-Challenge reflections…
The past seven weeks have been a very enlightening life experiment. I am actually quite surprised by how just a few tweaks to my lifestyle have brought about such noticeable changes.
I lost the 15 lbs that I had gained over the previous 18 months.
You tend to make better dietary choices when you’re not hungover all the time.
Setting aside time for active recovery/meditation/yoga was also a welcome addition to my day—it helped managed my anxiety during an incredibly stressful month at work.
Adopting the Paleo/Zone diet also ended up being more fun than I thought it would be—I tried a ton of new recipes, discovered my new all-favorite butternut squash chili, and cooked more than I had in recent months.
I am pleasantly surprised that I have made steady progress with my bench, snatch, jerks, and squats. I can feel myself getting stronger, I can see my form slowly improving and I’m challenging myself to take bigger leaps of faith. (For example, I’ve been attempting all WODs as Rx-ed to see if I can handle it first…if I can’t, I pull back, but I’m trying to challenge myself to go outside my comfort zone.)
It really hit me how what we eat has an impact on everything from energy, sleep, performance, mood, skin, concentration, and so much more.
I am more alert and energetic during the day. Before the Challenge, I would have a cup of coffee in the morning at home, and by the time I got to work, I needed more. Now, I only need that cup in the morning. I still have another cup from time to time, but it’s mostly for the taste and pleasure of drinking it as opposed to the need. I feel I have more concentration and focus, which I never even thought I had any issue with before.
I have suffered from acne since college. During this Challenge, many people commented on how clear my skin is and that my complexion is brighter. I noticed all of these changes with eating clean about 60-70% of the Challenge.
I lost about 7-9 pounds. Made it back to my lightest weight in 18 years.
Kettlebell Kitchen really helped me stay on track during those periods.
I had been operating under the assumption that I needed to work out harder to lose fat weight and improve my numbers in the gym. Turns out I had it backwards—by improving my dietary habits I lost weight, which in turn has improved my performance and increased my capacity for harder work in the gym.
I feel so much stronger and my stamina during WODs is through the roof. I did 60 bar-facing burpees this week, without resting, which I would have not thought possible six weeks ago.
Seeing that I’d definitely dropped body fat in those photos was heartening in a way that watching a number on a scale usually is not. Perhaps, most positive of all was when I went to my doctor recently. I’ve been on blood pressure medication for the past three years for insanely high, stage 2 hereditary blood pressure. This particular doctor’s visit, I realized I had forgotten to take my meds that morning so was bracing myself to hear some outrageous blood pressure reading. Unbelievably, my doctor told me my blood pressure was completely normal without the medication and asked what I’d been doing to bring it down. (CrossFit South Brooklyn!) I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d be on those pills for the rest of my life, but it looks like if I keep this up, I may not need them after all.
I ate more carefully and consistently—not to mention just generally more healthily. So much kale.
Potluck Winners
And of course, congratulations to the people who may not have won anything related to the LFPB Challenge, but instead excel at cooking, baking, and eating…
- Best Main Dish: “Noah’s Progenex Fed Meatballs“ (Coach Noah says he used a bit more red pepper than the recipe called for… and no Progenex.)
- Best Side Dish: Carissa C.’s Shaved Brussell Sprouts with Proscuitto Goodness (Accost her in the gym if you want the recipe!)
- Best Dessert: Kate R.’s “Almond Butter Semi-Paleo Crack Bars” (Recipe forthcoming in the comments.)
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Language Quiz: Are You On Fleek? The New York Times
How Reading Fiction Can Help You Live a Better Life Lifehacker
Guy Trolls Russell Crowe For 2 Years, Finally Gets Blocked The Chive
Just signed up for the Open. I've been a little injured recently, dealing with some nagging wrist and elbow stuff and then a flare up of some back symptoms from my old/eternal back injury.
I went back and forth about signing up, but talking about the Open in group class has got me too excited. Despite occasional ambivalence about competitive Crossfit, I love the Open, which is so democratic and community oriented and wacky and fun. I couldn't not do it. It will be an exercise in ego this year, I'm going to just take the workouts as they come and do my best, despite not training the way I'd have wanted to for the past month or so.
If you haven't signed up yet, do it. The best part of CrossFit happens between your ears- when you get to that uncomfortable or unknown place and rise to the occasion. Every year I see this happen to people, forced out of their comfort zone and learning a little bit more about who they are. It's an opportunity that becomes even more rare the older we get, and I relish it. If you have any questions, grab me at the gym and I will be happy to cajole, joke, and game plan with you.
Froning is out. This is my year.
Late post from yesterday's today's Squats
w/ Coach DO
LBBS:
255×5, 255×4, 255×3
I went up 10# from last week. I definitely over-reached.
WOD:
12-15 box jumps 30in
10-12 toes to bars
1min plank
4 rounds
First off, congrats to all the winners.
Second, SIGN UP FOR THE OPEN. It's fun, it'll push you to go to an uncomfortable place or try new things in workouts, and you'll enjoy it regardless of how well you do.
Third: SIGN UP FOR HAIL TO THE KING. Competitions are exciting regardless of whether you win. What's likely is you'll show up, do better than you thought, have a great time cheering on your friends and then (most importantly) go get a ton of food and beer to celebrate.
Make-up post from yesterday:
Bench:
315×2
280×7 – Had the weirdest fail on my eighth rep (as everyone watching could attest) – I was so, so close to locking out, but just couldn't do it and ultimately failed. Thanks to Jeremy for the quick spot. I think I did too many warm-up sets on this one, leaving me with little time to rest between my two work sets. Will try again next week.
WOD – rowing and thrusters
1. 25
2. 19
3. 20
4. 20
Total thrusters: 84
Tried to take the row at an easy 1:45-1:48 pace, then knock out a big set on the thrusters. This gassed me a lot, but was a fun little burner. Love these micro-wods with rest.
Back in group class, thanks to DO being kind enough to give me special-snowflake programming. Also, I can do lunges! Yay! I don't have to completely neglect leg day until I'm healed!
Pressed instead of squatting. 70x5x3, heavy but not too heavy. I can definitely add 5# next week.
For the accessory work, 3 RNFT:
20 cal assault bike (whoa, this is hard!)
2:00 plank (EVIL)
And then some Alpha Ball and banded hip stretch afterward.
I'm seeing a chiropractor (thanks Pierre!) and am cherishing a fond hope of at least being able to do the first Open WOD scaled. We'll see. As a wise woman (aka Chuckles) said to me, "this is all for fun and long-term health."
Ya know, why not?! I signed up for the Open!
In the spirit of full disclosure, this recipe actually belongs to Pilates superstar KH. Which, as someone else pointed out, makes it even cooler that I won a free class with her.
"Almond Butter Semi-Paleo Crack Bars"
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp almond butter (I used chunky)
1/2 cup clarified butter or coconut oil (I used coconut oil)
1 1/4 cups almond flour
1 1/4 cups coconut sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghiardelli semi sweet)
In a medium bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of the almost butter, plus the butter or oil, flour, and sugar until completely combined. Press the mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and the 2 Tbsp almond butter. Start with 20 seconds, remove and stir, and keep repeating until completely melted (it takes about a minute-and-a-half total).
Pour the chocolate over the almond butter base, spread it evenly, and refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into bars with a sharp knife and enjoy!
HBBS
5 x 45
4 x 95
3 x 135
2 x 165
1 x 180
3 x 5 #185
I was nervous about the 185 today, since I'm still on the backend of being sick but the weight moved nicely for a heavy weight. 200 is in my sights for this cycle.
Accessory Work
TTB: Worked on my kip mainly. Thanks to McD for the pointers. I managed to string together two ugly looking TTB. A work in progress.
Box Jumps: Took this opportunity to use a 24" box and put the 20" box behind me once and for all.
Planks: Nothing exciting.
Pre-class work: Thanks to Fox's motivation I'm practicing my double-unders before class. I've managed to string together four since DUs since practicing. That's a PR. Next step, 5 unbroken DUs.
BSQ: 230x5x3
The post-challnege reflections were awesome.
6am with McTuro. I worked up to 185x3x5 on the back squats. This is the same weight I was at last week, and it moved much better – albeit with a couple of pretty slow final reps in the last two sets. I think I'll be able to move to 190 next week – particularly if I carefully warm up my hips (which for one reason or another have felt particularly stiff lately – the cold maybe?) beforehand.
I really like these "work on your technique for X minutes" kinds of workouts. The kipping T2Bs feel crazy and swingy, but they're getting better – it's much more of a lat-based movement than I realized. I just need to be careful to prep my hands before I do them because they definitely have potential to leave my palms skin free. Using the 24" box is fairly new for me, but the jumps felt good today. And I can hold a plank for a full minute several times in one morning, which wasn't the case not that long ago – next step is to do so with a bunch of weight on my back like Joy (though probably sweating, grunting and complaining, unlike Joy, who just sorta looks like she's chillin').
Regarding the LFPB Challenge, it was kind of mind-blowing how effective it was for me. I managed to be totally consistent with everything except getting a lot of sleep – and that discipline showed in how I looked, felt, and performed (hence…). One thing Fox recommended on Saturday night that really resonated (and gave me a great sense of relief) was to think of these positive eating and lifestyle habits in the same way we think of our programming cycles. We have periods of high intensity and periods of less intensity, and this is all dynamic and waxes and wanes over time, hopefully aggregating out to a broad upward performance trajectory across a lot of different skills. Similarly, lifestyle variables like diet, a/r, sleep habits, hydration don't have to be an "all or nothing always" kind of thing; I can hang onto many of the positive habits I've developed over the course of the challenge, but relax a bit for a while, then (for example) clamp down on my diet for a while, then relax a bit again, maybe picking up a positive tweak or change each time that sticks around. For example, I'm not going to fully eliminate dairy from my diet, but after having done so for six weeks, I'm totally cool with not eating cheese daily, or in every meal. But I can pump the brakes a bit and be slightly less of a pain in the ass about restricting my diet for a little while – much to my wife's and my friends' relief.
So, I'm obviously glad I got involved in the challenge. I'm super thankful for the opportunity, guidance, and (most importantly) the kick in the ass to do it. And congrats to my fellow winners and to everyone who managed to make some positive changes and saw results!
HBBS: 235x5x3
Heavy but the reps felt pretty solid. 245 would be awesome this cycle. Need to work on keeping my knees from drifting inward as I come out of the hole.
On the accessory work, got some bounding sets of 20 on the 30" box jump.
It is so much fun at the gym during the Open. Really looking forward to it.
Shawn: You and I are squat brothers.
Also really enjoyed the "work on X" session. I've mentioned this before but if anyone wanted to get together and do a work on X session during OGs, I would definitely be interested.
KATE. Those Almond butter crack bars were on fleek!
Excited for Iron Maidens on Saturday! Not worried about the numbers I'm going to put forth at the meet–the training itself was so valuable and has had a profound impact on my strength (and friendships!)… I'm just really looking forward to sharing this awesome experience with such badass ladies!!
I've heard several gals discuss how nervous they are for Saturday– everyone has made huge gains, I'm sure, so don't be nervous! Just do your best!!
Not entirely sure what this Open is about, but I think it's cool it brings together the international community of crossfitters and that I might improve in conditioning the same way I improved my strength through Iron Maidens training. It can't hurt to sign up, so… why not?
1. Congrats to all of the challenge winners and participants! Love reading the feedback!
2. Kate R. Droooool.
3. Becca! Hell yeah!
4. I wholeheartedly agree with Noah,. Everyone should sign up for the Open. I had so much fun doing this last year. I got my first T2B, did my first workout with DUs without counting attempts, did C2B chin-ups for the first time and realized I was pretty good at deadlifts. Even though I could not get past certain movements (and still can't) it did wonders for my confidence and did I mention it was so much fun?! The whole thing was awesome and definitely a major milestone for me.
Yeah, to echo Noah and Charlie – if you are on the fence about the Open, you should definitely do it! I had been doing CrossFit for maybe three or four months last year and signed up after "Did you sign up for the Open?" was the QOD for what seemed like two straight weeks. I was really nervous about it, but I was very happy with that decision. Like Charlie, I had some firsts (kipping toes to bar), surprised myself in a couple of workouts, got inspired by plenty of great athletes in our gym, and gave myself a better understanding of what improvements I could make. It was cool to road test myself, the vibe in the gym on workout days was great, and as a result, this year I'm ready to push myself a bit more to see what I can do. Can't wait to hear what 15.1 has in store for us.
HBBS, 3RM, -5%, -10%x3
440×4
418×3
396×3
Pause Below knee clean pulls
396x3x3
Tabata hollow rocks
HBBS: 270x5x3
Did a back off on my HBBS at 135#x5x2. Then did 2 200# walk outs. Definitely glad I did that.
Used nearly the whole 20 minutes today to ruthlessly work on toes to bar. THANK you to the alway- encouraging Mary ("you take that back!"), Michael C and Melo for the tips and help. I stayed after class for 10 minutes and GOT ONE! haha
That was actually one of the 4 things on my "2015 fitness goals" list- so I'm thrilled. Definitely going to put some focus on these and pullups after iron maidens this saturday.
Fitness BS at 210. 215 next week but that gunna hurt.
Also, was in Palm Springs last week and dropped into Crossfit Shifted for two brutal back-to-back wods. Good gym. Not a great deal of instruction but it seemed like an off week in terms of long 30+min wods and no strength elements.
I will say, their music was top notch. Loud enough to hear during a wod. CFSBK needs to crank the volume (IMO).
Mashing and lounging
2 min-ish assault bike
LBBS
45×5, 95×5, 135×3, 155×2, 170×1, 180×1, 190×1
Walk out 210, 200
Later…
DROMs
Bbell warm ups
Kipping HSPUs 5×3
Snatch doubles – one from hang, one from deck
(Continuing what i worked on w Frank yesterday)
25x2x3
29×2
35x2x3
37×2
39x2x3
These felt very dialed in even tho I did not have lifting shoes (fell backward twice but I think it was the shoes). Keeping this very light and working on first pull and 2nd pull transitions (aka steering the car around the turns)
Snatch pulls
45×3
50x3x3
8:30pm. Olympic lifting. Snatch (just snatch, no pulls or other oddities): 88×3, 110×3, 132x1x2, 143, 154x1x2, 165, 176, 191F, 191F, 191F, 191F. Kept getting closer and closer on the misses at 191. Just couldn't quite get under and get stable. Clean&jerk: 88, 132, 176, 198, 220, 176x1x4. Felt tired after the snatch work and decided to stay on the lighter side.