Snatch
Halting Snatch Deadlift (to the Mid-Hang) + Mid-Hang Snatch:
1-1-1-1-1
Start light and spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy load on the complex. Pause for a 3 count at the Mid-Hang and then move directly into the Snatch. If you’re newer to the lifts, then you can complete the Deadlift and reset to the Mid-Hang for the Snatch.
Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
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3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
30 Squats
20 Toes-to-Bars
Sub Hanging Leg or Knee Raises for Toes-to-Bars as needed.
Post time and Rx to comments.
Coach Noah gives David G. some tips. Bon voyage, Noah! You will be missed!
A Fond Farewell from Coach Noah
By Noah Abbott
This Sunday will be my last class as a coach at CrossFit South Brooklyn before I head to LA for the CrossFit Games, where I will be helping with some media projects being put together by Beyond The Whiteboard. (A good bit of this content is for subscribers, so if you want to check it out sign up! It’s also the best WOD tracking service out there AND is CFSBKer owned and operated.) I’ll be back in NY briefly near the end of the month before moving to Austin, but imagine I will be quite busy packing, nervous eating, and crying.
It’s been about 6 years since I started as a member at CFSBK. I joined after finding CrossFit during a government deployment to Phoenix, and in the spring of 2010 joined the gym as a newb CrossFitter with decent aerobic capacity, little strength or technique, and questionable fashion sense. At some point David realized it was hopeless to try to keep me from talking all the time, and he decided to direct my enthusiasm towards talking specifically (most of the time) about CrossFit. I started training as a coach alongside Jess Fox that summer, and despite a penchant for coming to coaching training after a too-late night, I quickly realized how much I loved the gym and my new place in it as a coach.
I was working for the government full-time back then. I had worked hard to get the job because I wanted to help people, to make them safer in a scary world, and to pay back into my larger community for an upbringing that was undeniably privileged. I had also watched Point Break a lot, the importance of which should not go unnoted. Over time I began to realize that my government job would never involve infiltrating a gang of surfer/skydiver/bank robbers, and often left me feeling like I wasn’t helping anyone and only perpetuating cycles of misunderstanding and questionable decision making.
I was incredibly fortunate to stumble bass-ackwards into a part-time job that turned into a career that will now turn into a business venture, that all along has delivered what I thought I wanted from my government job. As the lens I see the world has matured, I’ve realized that every day as a coach I get to make people safer, stronger, and more resilient from things much more likely to harm them than abstract spectre of terrorism, such as chronic disease, decrepitude, and injury. I get to see the results of my work every day when people learn new skills, set PRs, get off their meds, rehabilitate, and recover. Further, I’ve spent six years giving to and being nourished by a vibrant, compelling, diverse, and loving community, a relationship more powerful than I could ever have dreamed.
Our community has a few big pieces that I’d like to acknowledge. First, I will forever be indebted to El Capitan David Osorio who saw something in a subpar CrossFitter with a big mouth. I imagine I will always be playing catch-up trying to emulate his ability to be genuine, careful with words and action, creative, visionary, and generally the glue that holds the ship together. He and Christian Michael Thomas Fox (and Shane Williams) were instrumental in teaching me the craft of coaching, which in many ways for me has been a lesson about life. They taught me to think before I speak and to strive for an economy of language (I know, I’m still working on it.) They taught me that your attention and care must stretch to every corner of the room and that nobody deserves to live outside the walls of your compassion. They taught me that in an hour you can warm up, learn about your neighbors, lift heavy things, do things you never dreamed you could, and laugh all the while. Thanks David and Chris for teaching me, and continuing to teach me.
One of the reasons I’m convinced this is the best job in the world is that your colleagues quickly become your best friends. In rough order of vintage, David, Chris, Shane, Jeremy, Margie, Laurel, Nick, Jess, McDowell, Melissa, Josh, Arturo, Whitney, Katie, and JB have all been sources of inspiration, camaraderie, levity, honesty, and patience. I’ve been so lucky to learn alongside them, to hang with them after we roll the gate down, and doubly lucky that they only occasionally eye-roll me when I dance, make hackneyed literary allusions, or sandbag a workout. I hope I can take a little bit of each of their skills, eccentricities, and passion with me and share them with a new crop of people.
Those new people will have to work insanely hard to compete with the members that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of coaching and befriending at CFSBK. Living in a city that is often celebrated for overworking its inhabitants, siphoning their precious time as they wait for the subway, emptying their wallets, and slowly turning them into the type of people that curse at slow walking tourists, the people at CFSBK are a daily refutation that New York City eats its young. Every day you guys whittle time from your already packed schedule, make the trip from near and far, and commit yourself to an experiment about what a culture of people committed to personal enrichment can look like. You do things that are inherently frightening, challenging to normative ideals of beauty, gender, health, and lifestyle, and are simply put, badass. You do it with a smile, with grace, with determination, with white-hot intensity, and its damned inspiring. You pay me to tell you how to better do things that are uncomfortable and often frustrating, and you thank me for it when you peel yourself off the floor. More than anything, I want to thank you, the members of CFSBK- you make my job easy, because coaching is about caring, and you guys are all incredibly easy to care deeply about.
If you think you’ve gotten rid of me, please think again. This is simply a fare-thee-well for now, and I fully expect to spend lots of time in NYC going forward. If any of you come to Austin and don’t drop in and say hi I will curse your names, build a simulacrum in your likeness, and make your voodoo effigy do thrusters until your arms and legs fall off.
My last class at CFSBK will be Anti-Gravity, this Sunday at 2:00pm. Afterwards I will be heading to Pig Beach on Union Street to eat, drink, and of course of course of course talk loudly and laugh loudly-er. I hope every single one of you joins me.
__________________
Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Front Squat | NFT Work
Who Invented the Internet? Kurzgetagt
Anna Tunnicliffe: From Olympic Gold Medalist to the CrossFit Games Fitness HQ
Noah-
That's a lot of words. I only read the headline then scanned the article to see if my name was mentioned. Can't thank you enough in this brief post for all of the help / encouragement / hilarity that you've provided over the years. You're a motherf*cking righteous dude and I'll try to get out to see you at Crossfit Jabroni. I hear there are some great strength coaches in TX btw ….
Nice work, Noah. I always enjoyed my classes and conversations with you. I watch teachers in action very carefully – and you are a damn good one. Good luck for all that lies ahead; I'm sure you're going to kick ass in Texas.
Sniff. Good luck Noah. You'll be missed. Thanks for all of your help and encouragement over the years.
Thanks Noah for all your help in making this log of wood a bit better – I still have to give you my best snatch as a parting gift:)
I certainly will bore you with my constant questions about your business strategy and day to day operations:)
Noah is a solid dude and a fantastic coach. I had him rarely but every time he coached me I left with some great cues. Austin is one lucky town.
6am with JB and Jess
Worked up to 74kg on the complex. This movement brought every bad habit to the forefront and forced me to deal with them one by one. Partnered with BK and got some good notes from him on staying off my toes.
WOD Rx'd in 13:33. Runs were steady, squats were super fast. T2B fell apart on me towards the end with a bunch of unattractive singles to finish it off.
Noah – for the past 6 years, you have been one of the reasons why this is a great gym. You will be missed. Thanks for your coaching and encouragement. Just another reason to visit Austin….
Noah, what a lovely goodbye. You will be missed!
NOAH YOU'RE THE BEST!
Sending you all the good vibes to ATX, eat all the tacos for me, swim in all the swimming holes and keep that place weird for me until me and Crum's visit! Will miss your jokes, laughs all things Miyazaki, wisdom and great advice xo
Noah,
I wish I had your writing skillz to let you know how much you've meant to our community. I will see you in Austin.
I was lucky enough to have Noah teach a lot of my classes when I first started. He is a great coach and a great guy and he will be sorely missed. Austin is lucky to have you!
Noah, your Autsin existence may be the tipping point in getting me down there for the first time. I'm sending Matt Harvey down in advance to rehab with you.
7am with Jess and JB
Snatch
Nailed everything up to 125# pretty clean, matching a PR. Watched some videos last night to help me focus on the shrug and this one combined with today's complex had it clicking. Last attempt I got under 135# snappy and stood it half way up before needing to bail. So close to my snatch goal for the year.
Metcon Rx – 14:01
It was either a little faster or slower than this, not sure. Sweatin' like a fool all over the bar, making it impossible to hold by the end.
Noah why u write so gud? The first time I figured out who Noah was, it was right after we posted an article he had written on shoes. At the time, I remember thinking, damn, this guy really knows a lot about shoes. This time three years later, I now realize how deep down the rabbit hole Noah's shoe-love really goes. Thank you for the all of the fashion statements and fitness advice; your bright (& tight) personality will be missed.
Noah, glad to have the opportunity to have met you. You were my first introduction to CFSBK by administrating my test out. And, I decided to stick around, must have been the light banter. Best of luck with your new adventures.
6am.
Snatch: Worked up to 64kg. Good complex, I like how it breaks down the snatch.
Metcon: 11:11 Rx. Runs slow, squats fast and kept moving thru the T2B 11-7-1-1, 10-singles, 7-singles.
Austin is getting one of our absolute best. Noah, it sucks to see you go. You have been a great coach from whom I learned a ton, and a thoroughly awesome human being to be around as well. Best of luck to you. It's a very small consolation, but at least I won't have to wonder where I'll be dropping in next time I'm in Texas.
Noah – your self effacing comments about wordiness surprises me because I've always considered you among the bestest. You cued a major change in my bench press just passing by a few months ago and, dude, you ARE my hook grip (since August, 2014….Absolute Necessity of the Hook Grip.). All the best in TX!
7 am with Fox
Stayed at 62 – third week in a row. Form, form, keep working the form.
Met Con in 14:40. I run slowly. I tried to push it today. Squats were pretty quick and TTB was scale to 13-13 and then I finished with 20. It got slippery so there were many seconds spent re-chalking.
Noah: even when you're busy in Austin running your own gym and stuff, please keep writing in some capacity. It's not difficult to gush about how awesome our community is, but you captured some of the reasons why perfectly.
Selfishly, I'm super bummed to see you go. I've learned so much from you as a coach and a colleague, and am terribly concerned about how I am going to fill the void of witty gym banter that your departure will inevitably create (though, luckily, we have no shortage of witty people at CFSBK). I know you're going to kill it in Austin, and can't wait to come visit your gym next time I am in town.
Good luck, Noah. Austin is stoked to have you. Some Texans' lives are about to improve.
We're really going to miss you, Noah! Austin is really lucky to get you. You're a great coach and teacher!! Hopefully you'll keep writing excellent articles with funny hyperlinks so we can continue to learn from you after you've moved!!
Snatch: 68×2, 73×2, 78×1. Can't believe it– 78 was solid! PR match. If I can hold 3 seconds and snatch 78 from the mid-hang, then I'm sure I can hit 83#. (Or something is seriously wrong with my pull from the floor)
WOD: 14:41 runs and squats weren't too slow, but TTB took awhile: sets of 5s broke down to sets of 3/2 with moderate pauses between sets. Maybe quick singles would have been a better strategy.
Noah always has a way with words. A scholar and a gentleman. There's just something about that laid back way mixed with that handsome face that just seems to be a winning combination. You will be missed big time.
6AM with the Jess'
Snatch complex
Buddy system today with Roy worked up to 62kg. I hated the hold but it definitely helped overall. Feels great to be doing this lift again.
WOD – 11:22
This comes down to how quickly you can get through the toes to bar once they fail on you.
T2B: 15-5, 10-3-singles, 7-singles
Couldn't quite hold off BK today; fun workout; completely regret doing GHDs yesterday
Noah you slay! I second Shawn that you are my hook grip and I have learned so much from you. I will miss your awesome coaching and weird QOD answers. Don't hit any armadillos on your bike!
Crossfit Jabroni +1
Noah === best chest to chest, in your shit, bball defense BK has ever seen. Anytime he had the ball, I was enthralled, terrified and excited for what would happen next.
Austin
has
no
idea
what's
coming
Noah! Beautifully written, thank you for all the great cues, solid coaching, and generally hilarious banter over the last few years. Austin is one lucky town – no good byes though, just see you soon. Also – thanks for letting me part of the greatest team that never was (2015 CFSBK softball team) RIP 🙂
Found myself free at noon today –
Worked up to 62# after not performing this lift in I cannot remember how long, back felt good, no cranky hip, I'll take it.
WOD with 35 sit ups in 15:10
Solid 90's tunes (gosh I love Mazzy Star) and lots o' SWEAT!
Noah, I can think of one coach in particular who's going to be missing you hard. No doubt I'll be hearing all about it (will text you quotes).
So many congrats on clarifying your ambitions and taking the leap to build something new. We're excited for your new journey and all the success ahead.
Noah: Key Foods Parking lot rematch next time you come back to Brooklyn. #purplepants
On a more serious note, it's been a pleasure to know you these past six (!?) years… as a fellow SBK member/athlete, coach, buddy, and colleague. You captured in your thoughtful words above many of the reasons why this place (and our work) is special and important, and I have no doubt you will create that same positive force in your new endeavors. Congrats.
You'll be missed. I look forward to visiting Austin one day!
1. Noah, I love you with all of my being. (That's right, all of it.)
2. I hope your new gym has a blog, because I will be trolling it…
wow!
SO damn WELL said!! You should also be a writer.
In the mean time, you will be an incredible coach/entrepreneur.in Austin. Many of the little well-timed recommendations that.have allowed me to improve came from you. So a million thanks.
You will be missed.
A great fare well message. I do plan on going to Austin some time so I will see you again. As one of my first coaches (along with Shane) I have only ever known the box with you in it. It will be rough for a bit as the adjustments to you not being there settle in. You are an inspiration and hell of a coach. I will miss you.
Noah, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your coaching my past four years at the gym. Your nuanced recommendations across lifts, guidance on when to go heavier vs. when to scale back in WODs, gifting me one of your ropes after a particularly lackluster double under day (done only if I promised to practice a lot), laughing freely at my long process of learning how to kip, and bold but useful suggestions, like having me wear a band around my rib cage when squatting to cue my brace…
And, thank you for co-starting AG – which has greatly helped so many of us learn gymnastics skills we did not think our bodies could do.
I could go on, and I know most folks at CFSBK could. In addition to your coaching, your humor, sincerity (whaaat?), fashion first outfits, and yes, mad writing skills, are a few of the things we will lose and Austin will gain. Love that you are following your dream.
You will always be my favorite coach when there are no others around.
Wishing you the very best.
Welp, looks like I'm the only one on this thread who thinks Noah is THE WORST. Y'all are cray.
Jkjkjk! Noah, I will miss you buddy. The nicest thing you ever did for me was lend me shorts and a tee shirt so I could go into your dunk tank. Thanks for that. Also, sorry for all the bread we threw around your living room that night. Also, #metsforevah. Also, tacos on 3.
8am with Fox. Halfway to the gym, I almost turned around and went home because I was so sore from yesterday. But I'm glad I didn't, because the ipad broke and was stuck on some random pop station, so I got to snatch to Natalie Imbruglia, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Miley Cyrus. Winnnnn. 78# on the snatch, held back a little bit today, and then 13:47 on the WOD with 10 T2B per round. Hot AF.
Noah, thank you for the coaching, warmth, humor and fun. I have so many Noah cues recorded in my head – not the least of which is the time you told me that my front squat looked like a weird dance. Well my front squat is better for it. 😀
Also, I so enjoyed your farewell piece. Such an interesting journey! Thank you for sharing! I'm so lucky to be one of the people to whom you brought happiness and helped transform for the better.
All my best wishes.
Noah-
I truly regret not getting my kids to take your youth classes and will miss you at CFSBK- you're always a positive force. .
Good luck as you move your life into that of an entrepreneur. I imagine nothing will feel as hard nor as satisfying.
.
Noah,
Don't get too weird in Austin. Can't wait to drop in the next time I'm there. Thanks for making me feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations e.g. the bottom of an overhead squat.
Noah, beautifully written! I'll miss you!
Snatches: 53×3, 63, 73, 78, 83, 88F, 88M, 88M, 93
DO pointed out that I was going back to my old ways of deadlifting the bar around my knees instead of moving them out of the way at 88#. He also gave feedback on my mid hang position which was too upright. Grabbed a PVC and practiced in between sets and nailed the last two reps.
WOD Rx'd in 14:27
Runs: not terrible today.
Squats: decent speed
T2B: sets of 5 for the first two rounds, a set of 8 then 12 singles on the last round.
You're making my eyes sweat.
Noah! You are really a good coach, it's awesome to read your story – but not awesome that you're leaving! 🙁 No, really though – Best wishes! Austin is a great town, and will be a little greater for having you there. Thanks for all your jokes, coaching, and funny commentary! See you 'round…