CrossFit South Brooklyn

Established 2007

Front Squat | WOD 1.31.18

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Front Squat

Work up to a medium-heavy Front Squat from the floor via a Power Clean.

Post loads to comments.
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For Time:
15-12-9
Front Squats 135/95
Handstand Push-Ups

The Front Squats should be light-medium and unbroken on the fast end. Scale ROM (2 AbMats max) on the Handstand Push-Ups or to Box Piked as needed.

Post time and Rx to comments.


“I don’t want to sell memberships. I want to be a coach, and I want to have community.” That’s our very own Captain Osorio making us proud once again in “A New York Decade,” CrossFit Journal‘s in-depth interview on his 10-plus years of running CFSBK. There’s so much good stuff here that it’s impossible to distill it down to a few sentences. Just read it!

Stress, Cortisol, and Body Composition

By Chris Fox

Editor’s Note: The following is an adapted version of Coach Fox’s recap notes from this year’s 2nd Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture. We liked it so much that we’re posting it here for everyone to read. Enjoy!

What is stress?

Stress, as we’re discussing it, is a normal physiological response to danger, or something else that upsets your equilibrium. Your body’s response to it is to kick in the “fight or flight” response as it’s way of protecting you, and there is a wave of hormonal action associated with this response. This could be brought on by a challenging workout, almost getting hit by a bus, fighting with your boss, getting cut off in traffic, or worrying too much about things you can’t control.

What is cortisol?

Cortisol is a hormone released by the adrenal cortex, and it is a main “fight or flight” hormone. It’s often called a “stress hormone” because it’s released under times of stress. One of it’s main jobs is to facilitate something called gluconeogenesis, the breaking down of muscle tissue to create glucose for energy.

Is cortisol good or bad?

Both, really… but it’s not that simple. When released naturally in response to acute stress, it does the job it supposed to do and helps provide your body with the energy necessary to escape danger, and it’s pro-inflammatory action aids the healing of damaged tissues. In normal life, as humans evolved, these types of stresses would come on fast but also pass just as fast, allowing hormone levels to normalize. Nowadays however, it’s common for people to move from stress to stress, and spend too much time in “fight or flight”, thus maintaining elevated levels of cortisol. Chronic elevated levels of cortisol are associated with: decreases in lean muscle mass, increases in body fat, decreased auto immune response, among other things.

How can I manage stress?

Certain stresses can result in a net positive once the stress is dealt with and you return to homeostasis (a workout, learning a new skill, public speaking, etc.). Others acute stresses can be harmful (being eaten by a tiger), and chronic stress is particularly bad if we don’t turn off the stress response. We’ve all heard that things like yoga, meditation, and relaxation techniques help reduce stress, but you don’t have to become a yogi or a monk to work on chilling out. Here is a link from the good folks over at Precision Nutrition with more info on stress and strategies to manage your load.

You’ll notice that things like listening to music or petting your (or someone else’s) dog can also help! In short, although some stress is good, we need to be able to turn it off. Chronic elevated stress levels will hinder not only sport performance and body composition, but can have negative long term health effects as well. Experiment with some stuff to find your personal favorite way to relax.

This Sunday: LFPB Challenge Lecture and Q&A

The next Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Lecture and Q&A is this Sunday, February 4th at 12pm in the Annex. In this 3rd lecture of the 2018 Challenge, we’ll discuss “trigger” foods. We’ve all got foods that we like that are also healthy for us, foods that are less than healthy that we can’t resist, and foods that fall in the middle. We’ll use the “Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light” system to help identify which foods are which, and discuss what to do with that information.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Pushing the Limits of Extreme Breath Holding New Yorker
The Workout That Saves Lindsey Vonn from Wiping Out NY Times

Comments

  1. DO, I am proud to know you. All the love for all the work you’ve done to build this place up in the right way, and for the right reasons. (It is supremely ironic that you’re wearing your “everything happens for no reason” shirt for the photos that go with the article!)

      • Such a great article, I always love learning more about how the gym got its roots.

        Question for David: I read, “He hatched a scheme: finish his degree, move to New York, open a CrossFit affiliate.” Why did you choose NYC?? I’d always imagined that this is one of most difficult, expensive and competitive places to ever start a business. Congrats on doing it so well!

        • Awwwww you guys!! Thanks!! You all make me feel feelings!

          Why NYC? Because my affiliate needed to be COOL and where is cooler than Brooklyn!

  2. 6am with Ro and JB

    Worked up to 225# as a Power Clean & Front Squat. Felt pretty smooth and could have probably PRd my Power Clean today based on how I was feeling, but didn’t attempt.

    WOD in 5:54 Rx. The front squats were unbroken but difficult, but the HSPU were the real workout. Somehow they felt tougher than Diane the other day… maybe the front rack put a little extra fatigue on the shoulders, or maybe I’m still recovering from the KB swing Thruster workout on Sunday? One of life’s great mysteries I guess.

  3. Couple of make up posts…

    Monday 6:30pm
    Bench up to 215 and failed at 230. Wish I had tried 225 instead, I think I had that.
    Metcon 12min – running was better than I expected/remembered, and the weather outside was actually pleasant.

    Tuesday 6pm AGS
    Felt sluggish after missing a whole week of AGS. HSPU is still there and kick ups worked, but overall I felt low energy through this.

    Tuesday 7:30pm AG
    BMU work was fascinating – I already knew I didn’t have the strength for a BMU, but now that I know the technique I know how to see progress. The whole “it’s not just a really strong pull-up” part of it was great. I know also know to to consistently get C2B (even if at singles).
    Metcon in around 8min, with 2xC2B (instead of BMU) and single unders. Frustrated by my new jump rope, could barely do singles with it.

    Wednesday rest day!

  4. 7am w/ Ro + JB
    FSQ: 83×3 / 93×3 / 103×1 / 113×1
    WOD: 7:05 with RXed weight and 9-6-3 HSPU w/ 2 abmats. Agree that the HSPUs felt harder than they did during Diane last week! Shoulders felt pretty fatigued by the end. Scaled volume to protect my neck and happy to report no issues. Stuck to my strategy of doing the squats as follows: 5-5-5, 4-4-4, 9. I was really proud of myself for doing the last 9 unbroken! A good reminder that I’m physically capable of that—it’s mostly a mental thing.

  5. 7am w/ Ro + JB

    Woke up really excited for today! I missed nearly all squat days last cycle so I was excited to get back on that, and HSPU’s are something that I really enjoy working on.

    FSQ: 83×3, 93×3, 103×2, 113×1

    WOD: 5:54 w/ RX’d weight and 9-6-3 HSPU’s with one ab mat. All front squats unbroken, and felt great. Wanted HSPU’s to be unbroken too, but WOW my shoulders got surprisingly fatigued, and so quickly. I think I did 5-4, 3-2-1, 2-1. Rest day tomorrow!

  6. 7am mega class w/Ro & JB

    Squat clean/FSQ: worked up to 133# clean + 1 FSQ
    This was a low-key 3# PR for my clean. Figured since 133# was my heavy triple last time we did FSQ this would be OK? And it was! Gave 138# a quick try but bailed halfway up. It’ll be there for an actual test day (not the first week of the cycle ;)).

    WOD: 6:39 at 95# and 6-4-3 HSPU
    Skwats in 8/7, 6/6, 9 (sloooow but unbroken)
    HSPU are still a work in progress, but it was the right call to keep practicing the skill. Tried 1 abmat for the first 3 reps but then bumped up to 2 for the rest. Last 3 reps felt the strongest and most consistent!

    PS – DO has made CFSBK the best of the rest!!!

  7. 7am with everybody in the world

    Worked up to 113 on the clean + FSQ. I haven’t cleaned in a very long time, but was reminded why I like it. This felt pretty snappy and good.

    WOD in 6:54 at 95# with box piked. Squats in 8/7, 6/6, and 5/4. I almost overthought life and chickened out on the weight but I’m glad I just did it (there is probs a lesson in here). Making progress being truly upside down but the box was the right scale.

  8. Yesterday

    BJJ: So fun! It’s rad to be able to start to string things together and experiment. Kind of like physical puzzle solving. And once your partner starts giving you some guff it definitely becomes physically taxing. Have to start working on using my arms cause we haven’t actually been trying to shove our forearms into our partners necks yet (cause just trying to get movement down) and generally resisting, so super stoked for that. Hard to switch to the mentality of trusting my partner to tap vs constantly checking in to see if what I’m doing is ok because I’m scared of hurting them. Also armbars (!!!!!!).

    then

    Wednesday’s workout

    Worked up to 113. Cleans are so frustrating to me. I pulled 123 up to my flipping neck and then just let it drop and Nick was like “wtf Karina” and I was like “idk Nick my brain sucks” and he was like “do it again I’ll video it” and I was like “ok” and then I surreptitiously stripped some weight and he figured it out later. This was particularly annoying because 123 is what I did for 30 reps the other week.

    Kate has a theory that I’m trying to over control everything and once I’m able to relax I’ll become monstrous. This was also the theory of the oly coach in the basement of my airbnb in Philly (great place, lemme know if you’re going and want these accommodations). He was like “you’re going to be able to pull this through the ceiling, I can see it, you just need to fix _____” what I’m supposed to fix idk, because it didn’t make sense to me. Basically every night I go home and stare at a wall like a dog that finally recognized it’s reflection in a mirror and became self recognized and realized it’s a dog and will only ever be a dog and try and figure out what I’m doing wrong.

    Metcon

    Rx barbell, box piked 6:34

    Front squats unbroken in the first and last rounds, split the round of 15 in 8-7, all the cleans were basically muscle cleans.

    Ab mats were all in use by other class and other people so I tried to go no ab mat in the first round but collapsed on my head after 3 reps and then went and got a plate and put a towel on it for the rest. These took up most of the time.

    Gotta row tonight + might go to NLWC if I feel self flaggelatey.

    PS. I’ve worked for a lot of wackadoodle gym/studio owners and CFSBK is the best for a hundred million reasons

  10. My goal is to return to posting on the blog with this new cycle so here goes:

    Today’s workout yesterday:
    -Power clean + FSQ: worked up to 153. Hit it twice but both power cleans weren’t the prettiest.
    -WOD: 4:10 rx’d
    all FSQ’s unbroken but more challenging than expected. HSPU’s in 10/5, 4/4/4, 6/3. These got really hard really fast. Glad it wasn’t a 21-15-9 rep scheme!

    Monday:
    -Bench 95×8, 105×8, 115×5, 120×5, 125×3, 130×3, 135×1, 140×1
    Almost decided to get greedy and go for 145 to say I had a slightly over bodyweight bench but 140 was tough so glad I didn’t!
    -3RFT: 400m run (subbed row), 25 situps, 15 ring rows in 10:45
    One day my foot will be better and I’ll return to running. Weird to say but I actually miss it!
    -Muscle ups: 1 fail, 1 make
    2018 tally so far is 10 (lifetime is 11, ha). Need to make these smoother and bring my hips higher to the rings before I start to turn over.

    Also, SBK is the best! What David has accomplished over these last 10 years is so impressive. Well done David! So glad to be a part of it.

  11. This “David” seems like an okay guy…

    Did today’s programming yesterday

    205 on the complex felt plenty heavy
    Metcon Rx’d in 4:59
    FSQ unbroken. Smokey delts slowed me down.

  14. Randomly had a 10# power clean PR that was… easy!
    Clean +fsq: 103,113, 123(pr), 128(PR)— forgot to squat this rep because I was so excited about PRing twice!

    Wod: RX in 8:13—
    Fsq: 8-7, 7-5, 9
    Hspus… 3-2…singles! Wtf!
    Last night I did 32 strict tempo (3 second descent) hspus with one abmat. Normally feels like nothing to do kipping hspus.

    Cashed out with 3 chinupsxbody weight, 2 sets of 3 with 25#, 1 set of 2.5 with 25#. Couldn’t pull myself up on that last rep. Bumme!

    Anyway, I had a great workout after a bad day. I love CrossFit, DO, and the amazing gym he built. It means so much to so many—- beautiful. Changing lives!

  16. IM SO TIRED

    8:30pm group class
    Power clean + FSQ
    115
    135
    165
    185
    205
    215
    215

    FSQ/Strict HSPU metcon
    8:38 as Rx’d

    This was hard and I didn’t have fun but it’s medicine I need 🙁

  17. 6:30 with DO and Keith

    worked up to 130 on the complex which is a 5 lb power clean PR. Failed 133

    Wod with 12-9-6 hspu in 8:15. Went in thinking full volume would be fine but in the first round my arms just felt blasted!

  18. 2 mile slog right before class. The metcon 4s are much better for running than the 3s but I still hate running in anything other than real running shoes. Didn’t time this but I know it was slow. I was at my 9:30 per mile heart rate 🙁

    5:30 group
    Got up to 155# where I’ve plateued for a while now, but they felt clean. Coal level clean.

    Metcon was around 8:00ish minutes. Normally do this type of movement around 95# but called myself a bunch of baby names until I set the bar at 115# and I really feel like I did all I could, sooooo that’s cool.

    I also set a PR today where I didn’t drop a single F bomb in therapy. GAINZ!!!!

  19. Great article, DO! Lots of Gems in there! Wish I had started with you during the Lyceum days!

    Yay for @Lady Fox posting again!

    Good reminders about stress- something I’m very poor at managing, mostly because I don’t sleep enough.

    On that note, slept a solid 6.5 hours last night and felt great today! That plus a little visualization about power cleaning today= improvement. I didn’t olympic lift for two months after I dropped a barbell on my knee and I’m really out of practice and falling into old habits which has been frustrating but today was semi-successful!

    Clean + FSQT:
    113, 118, 123F (no recollection why), 123, 128 (had no witnesses and may have been considered a full squat,) 128 make!

    This is a power clean PR match from summer 2016 when I was taking Oly class regularly and was stronger than I am now (pre- two injuries) so was super happy about hitting this. Lately I’ve been overextending and not dropping under the bar so thought about and visualized myself doing it properly today and it worked! I was dropping under the bar more than usual and did not overextend! Still have lots to work on in terms of form but happy to be making progress.

    WOD: 9:04 @95# and with 2 ab mats

    FSQTs: 15, 7-5, 9
    HSPUS: don’t remember my rep scheme except the first round- 5-5-5. Had three fails along the way.

    Made two mistakes today:
    1. I went unbroken on the first set of FSQTs which totally fried my shoulders (plus they were tired from AGS yesterday). Should’ve known better and split them up with very short rest.
    2. I thought I could do HSPUs with one ab mat which I haven’t done in WODS in a year bc of my neck/shoulder/thumb injury. I have been doing strict tempo in AGS but the problems arise when my head is resting at the bottom (not keeping my head straight). I also have built up a fear of kipping these since my injury so take forever to organize the kip thus spending even more time at the bottom. Note to self: baby steps.

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