WOD 2.14.18
Every 3 minutes for 5 rounds:
10 Box Jumps 24/20
10 Russian Kettlebell Swings 32/24kg
10 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
The goal is unbroken reps with consistent scores.
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Back Squat
10-10-10
Warm up and work up to a heavy set of 10 reps. Use spotters on all work sets.
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Photo by Thomas H.
Compare and Despair: How NOT to Approach the Open (or any other workout)
By Brett Ferguson
So, the CrossFit Open is rapidly approaching. The Open is a five-week competition that Dave Castro and his sadist team at CrossFit HQ come up with every year to see which athletes will make it to Regionals and, ultimately, the CrossFit Games. For the rest of us mortals, it’s a time each year when we can see how we stack up with the rest of the global CrossFit community, see how we compare to our results last year, and have some fun with everyone in the CFSBK community. Because that what it’s about, right? Fun?
Well, if you’re anything like me, this isn’t always the case. I started CrossFit because I was tired of working out by myself and, while I was strong, I couldn’t do ten Burpees in a row without gasping for air. I enjoyed the challenge. I liked learning new things every day. I was excited by the prospect of a workout that I knew was going to be really hard for me. Where did all of that intrigue and enjoyment go?
- Expectations. I began to “should” myself all over. I should be able to do a Muscle-Up by now. I should be able to do Double-Unders (it took me literally 6 months of coming to class 10-15 minutes early every day and whipping myself repeatedly before I could get a few strung together). I should be able to run faster. “I should, I should, I should.” Sub in whatever movement you are struggling with right now, and my guess is you’ve said something like that to yourself.
- Comparing myself to others. That guy can Clean this weight, so why can’t I? She can keep moving through a 10-minute workout, and I can barely breath with my hands on my knees three minutes in. We were in the same Foundations class, so why is he so much better at this than I am?
The nastiest critic in my life is… me. Nothing is ever good enough. In my head, if I don’t beat (read: DESTROY) my scores from last year’s Open, beat (again: DESTROY) so-and-so in the standings, make it to Regionals, get sponsored, and get a million followers on Instagram, then what’s the point?
I have learned (and by learned I mean over and over and over) that every time I get too caught up in the goal, I become disconnected from reality. Most recently, my coach had me retest Open Workout 17.5. With absolutely no reason or data to back this up, I arbitrarily decided that I should be able to get a score that was TWO MINUTES faster than my score last year. WHAT? I set myself up for failure immediately. I looked at the clock after three rounds, and I was already off pace. That’s when the mental demons kick in for me. “You should just stop, they say, “You’ll never be any good at this. You can’t even reach a goal that you set for yourself. You suck at Thrusters. Your Double-Unders are too slow. Why are you breathing so hard? So-and-so wouldn’t be breathing so hard.” As a result, I started doing worse and worse during the workout than if I hadn’t even set a goal in the first place. I talk to myself in ways that I would NEVER talk to anyone else. If I said the things to any CFSBK member during a class work out that I say to myself, David would boot me out the door.
How did I end up doing on that work out? I beat my score from last year by over a minute. Was I happy? Absolutely not. Instead of being happy that all of my practice with Double-Unders this year paid off or that I was able to breathe while doing the Thrusters after practicing breathing and bracing all year, I decided to be angry and beat myself up for the rest of the day because I hadn’t reached the unattainable benchmark that I had set for no reason.
Think about something you can do now that you couldn’t do when you started CrossFit. Think about something you can do this year that you couldn’t do last year. If you did that and then the next words in your mind were “Yeah, but…” because you want more, take a second and give yourself some credit for what you’ve accomplished.
It’s easy for me to get obsessed with a goal and to completely take for granted how far I have progressed. This year in the Open I want to push myself hard physically as much as I can while still being able to recognize the improvements that I have made. I want to enjoy being around everyone while they try as hard as they can. I want to cut myself some slack if I don’t perform how I hope to. If I am able to do this, it be a huge mental PR for me.
If you’re thinking about doing the Open, DO IT. The energy in the gym is electric, and people end up doing things every year that they’ve never done before. It’s not about beating others but seeing how far you’ve come this year. Does that mean you do it perfectly? Hell no.
Maybe this year you have Toes-to-Bar when last year you didn’t. Maybe this year you can do Burpees when last year you were doing Squat Thrusts. Maybe last year you were in the Scaled Division and this year you signed up for Rx. Whatever you do, take a second to acknowledge your improvements and try to enjoy the process along the way, rather than than thinking about how far you think you have to go. We all started CrossFit to improve ourselves and have some fun. Every time we walk into the gym we are improving ourselves. Let’s be sure to do that having fun thing as well.
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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Toes-to-Bar: Getting Them, Improving Your Efficiency, and Using Them to Build Your Squat Athlete Daily
Lift Weights, Eat More Protein, Especially if You’re Over 40 NY Times
Good insights in this blog, Brett.
7am with Brett and Ro and that amazingly energetic crew
WOD working with Shawn, who encouraged me to try doing the 18” soft box (I usually do 12”). This was terrifying, but successful and the first time I’ve done this. (Thanks Shawn!) I didn’t really find a good rhythm and was spending unnecessary energy steadying myself after jumping up, but doing it still felt awesome. KB – 20kg; wall ball started 14# to 9’ but went to 8’ which was more realistic (also usually use a 10 or 12# ball but Sarah’s post Monday about trying to push a little more pushed me to try 14#).
BSQ with Shawn and Janet: 75×10, 85×10, 100×10. I need to stop giraffing and keep my focus on a lower point.
Yay for going for it on the box jumps!
Great post Brett! It’s all about the perspective and the long road, not what you’ve been able to accomplish in the last two weeks, but in the longer arc of months and years.
Yesterday 7:30pm with KHarpz and Wed program
I was completely flustered by the metcon coming first, as I was getting mentally prepared to back squat heavy then go easy-ish on the metcon.
Metcon Rx between 55s and 1:02. This felt great! It’s awesome to have a workout where I can go all out without fear of blowing up. Had Alan next to me which made me move a lot faster than I otherwise would. 55s was the last round, and it was a novelty to me to actually speed up in later rounds.
Back Squat 205×10 215×10
Didn’t have it in me to go to 225. I can do it, just didn’t have the mental capacity to push it like that after a long day.
Yesterday 6pm AGS
Arnold Press at 60lb is the 💣, I feel like such a meathead. HSPUs down to 1abmat!
Great post!
7am w/ Ro + Brett + everyone
WOD: RXed, best time was 1:04, worst was 1:09. Fun! Though I couldn’t beat Kate W to the wall balls no matter how hard I tried.
BSQ: 95×10, 115×10, 125×10. 125 is my former 8RM and I recall it being pretty grindy so I’m happy with this. It felt good, and Ro said it looked good, so I guess it WAS good! Wasn’t feeling 100% this morning so a strong lifting day was a pleasant surprise.
Happy Valentine’s Day, CFSBK, I LOVE YOU!
biofeedback testing short today after those deadlifts on monday night. back was definitely stiff coming in, felt it all the way up through my neck and even had a bit of a headache last night/this morning. good for me to notice and be more proactive about recovery with those heavy hinges.
but got down to biz this morning!
A. EMOM x 8 min (heat up)
a- 5 cal ski + 5 push ups @ 20×1
b – 5ea SA kb swing + 10 walking lunges
B1. FSQ @ 20×1
6-3-1, 6-3-1, 12
145×6, 160×3, 170×1
150×6, 165×3 F ON 2, did not do second single
115×12 @ 20×1
disappointed in that 165×3. think I didn’t rest long enough between my superset with DB press. wasn’t tight enough and just gave up. ah well!
B2. seated db press @ 30×1
25×8, 30×6, 35x6x2 — vibrating at the top of the last rep! focused on ribcage neutral, abs tight and it works 🙂
C.
3 SETS
:30 bike (72-74 rpm)
:30 power clean @ 105#
1 rope climb
rest 3 min b/t sets
(scores: 9 cal, 6 reps each time… 1:13, 1:12, 1:12)
wasn’t driving through my hips enough on power cleans until round 3. so important.
rest 8 MIN, then:
3 SETS
:30 row (1400-1600 cal/hr)
:30 DB push press 35#
1 rope climb
rest 3 min b/t sets
(scores: 9 cal round 1, 11 cal round 2+3, 13 push press each set, 1:10, 1:09, 1:11 — lost my footing)
brutal! push press surprised me though! happy to get 13 unbroken each time.
4 sets, nft:
1 toe-assisted low ring muscle up with :10 top support hold and :05 eccentric
:30 supine GHD hold
10 single leg band good mornings plus some other glute thing I don’t have a name for
10 am | Brett
WOD RX: Fastest (0:50) slowest (0:57)
My box jumps were faster than usual because I worked on springing off the floor as soon as my toes touched down. My RKBS were faster than usual because I worked on pulling the bell down at the top of each swing. My wall balls were faster than usual because I worked on some telekinesis by pulling the ball back down with my mind, defying Newton’s law of gravity… Ok, that last one technically didn’t work, but it was fun to imagine and it kept my mind off the burn.
BSQ: 135×10, 155×10, 175×10.
This felt good. Not my strongest day, but a smart day. I’ve been nursing a potential abductor injury which is slowly going away.
Lastly, I’ve been working on bar muscle ups after class. Just 10 minutes a day adds up. Today, something clicked and I was able to string them together. Left with a HUGE smile on my face 🙂
ALL MUSCLE UP THINGS…Go Coop!
Nice work neighbor!
YESTERDAY
Metcon Rx between 56 and 63 seconds
BSQ 185-205-225
Blog post in honor of what I am pretty sure was my first-ever RXed workout! I was all set to use the 18” soft box, but worked up the courage to try a couple jumps on the 20” box Suzanne pulled out. I made them both, so decided to go for it in the WOD. 24 kg was heavy but fine. I’ve been practicing with the 16# wall ball in Short Circuit to make 14# feel manageable. Slowest was first round at 1:15 and fastest was last round at 1:10. All other rounds were in between those.
Then BSQ with Mike: 73×10, 83×10, 93×10. I wasn’t totally sure I could hold the 93, and definitely had trouble keeping my chest up on the last few, but overall it went ok!
Yessssss!
Well said, Brett. You’re the man!
I’ve been doing the Crash B’s with Nick, and he had us film ourselves every couple weeks so he could advise us on tweaks we can make to our form to improve our rowing technique. I just watched my latest row, and it’s insane how a few small things can make such a big difference, especially over a three month period. I used to think I was awesome at rowing, then after getting further into the program I realized I had a TON of work to do, and now a few weeks later, I’m super proud of the incremental improvements I’ve made.
Did this yesterday solo.
Wod in :51 secs each round except for the 3rd when I had a no rep box jump (fell off the box backward during extension). All as jump up, step down.
Squatz:
170×10, 180×10, 190×10
-first set was the most challenging and thought I would need a belt. But, 180/190 actually felt easier and pretty sure I had room for more.
Oh and sign up for the open! It’s always so much fun.
Im looking forward to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!!!
Great post Brett. It certainly is easy to get sucked into a dark place in a workout that doesn’t help you complete the task at hand. It took me almost 7 years of crossfit to get bar muscle ups. I certainly cursed them and myself for not getting them sooner. This year I made it a goal to get them. I worked before class sometimes after class trying to get them and it paid off.
Practice your goats and dust off the things you know but don’t do often.
On a slightly different slant of self improvement…
Christmas evening I jumped on a scale at my rents and was in a sad shock to see me weighing in at 176 pounds. (Granted this was after both Holidays of eating and drinking and several missed workouts.) I made it a point that night that I was going to tighten down on my diet and no drinking (besides NYE). This past Sunday I weighed myself and I’m down to 159 pounds. I want to thank Brett and his Short Circuit class for really kicking my metabolism back and scouring the blog and internet for whole 30 information. Now that I am back to regular classes not having that weight on me has improved so many core things in class. Pull-ups, box jumps, burpees, toes to bar all feel so much better to do.
I’m forever thankful for CFSBK for having the amazing community and staff to help us all through this journey.
Skipped my noon therapy session to get a run in today! Take that mental health.
Tempo run of the day
Mile 1. 9:10
Mile 2. 7:36 (tempo pace)
Mile 3. 9:05
Tempo was supposed to be around 7:55, but when I kept looking down at my watch I was going too fast, so I said I might as well just try to hold that then. It worked out and then I died.
5:30 group
Loved the metcon – I wasn’t the fastest, but I could do it RX and not stop to rest, so DATSUH NIIICE!!!!!
Slowest was 70 seconds and fastest was 65. Had some people hitting 40s in my class And that’s the age I’m about to turn, so I thought of it as a tribute to my greatness.
Squats – my fear, my love, my enemy, my soul. Always afraid that my shitty knees will buckle or my back will shoot out and kill someone. Highest was 150. I know I can go higher, but my form is notsogreatandIspeedthroughsomesotheyareHARD!
I had a craving for just a bowl of taco meat at lunch but couldn’t find a place that just served that and I cried.
Must make up post before I never post again.
Sunday
A while back I got the idea to do some workouts with double unders in them. I haven’t done double unders in 12(?) weeks cause of CRASH B’s. Did 300 DU’s within 24 hours. Ankle was MAD. I think I jump with my ankles internally rotated and then land in a dumb way, going to work on correcting this. Anywho, now I have a very slightly sprained ankle so I decided to skip group class and go to AG which only had 50 DU’s programmed.
Kipping pullup work. Just need to get more pulling strength. End of story. Can do 2 strict pullups, 1 kipping pullup.
Metcon:
20 pullups (green band, strict)
50 DU’s (new PR of 29!)
30 WB (hate these, had some air balls)
50 calorie row (hovered around 850 cal/hr)
20 burpees (meh)
9:29 lats were muy sore the next day and still today.
Monday
Push Press
5,5,3,3,1,1
63, 73, 83, 93, 103, 108 (PR)
Never tested 1RM, usually feel pain during these but felt fine. 108 was a lil bit of one arm at a time :/
Metcon:
3 Deadlift at 185lbs
7 over the bar burpees (ankle hurt still so just did regular burpees)
I think I got 6 rounds + 1 but it could have been 5 rounds +1. I lost count. I finished the first round around the 30-45 second mark so it makes sense it would be 6 rounds as I wasn’t jumping over the bar. But I did take some time to set up the deadlifts. I’ve never done this weight in a metcon. First at least 2 rounds touch and go, last rounds with a lil pause between reps.
Then…CRASH B’s workout
x20 (:30/:15 rest) at race pace.
So twenty rounds of 30 seconds at race pace with 15 seconds of rest in between. This hurt until the 10th round and then I had no more fight in me so just floated away mentally. Nick was trying to help me with my starts but I wasn’t receptive in my state. Much easier to relax and not tense anything when you literally don’t have the energy to. Tried to keep pace around 1:55/500m. Floated up a lil around round 13 and I had some late starts and early ends when I was being bratty in the beginning.
Today (Wednesday)
Box jumps scaled to step up foot switch things to save ankle, 24kg kettlebell and 14lb ball. This was fun, wall balls are much easier in lifters. No repped myself a couple times
3×10 back squats
135, then an hour rest to eat lunch/talk to Ro, or “the longest rest anyone has ever taken between sets according to Brett”
140
145
Could have gone way heavier but was doing this on my own and didn’t wanna get shifty.
CRASH B’s
5k row at high T2, low T3. was long. then I left finally.
Also mad props to everyone kicking up those box heights!!
Brett really knocked this out of the park. You can look forward to more writing from him on the blog throughout the Open!
6:30 with keith and David
Metcon RX in :59 :57 :56 :56 :56
Hbbs: 135, 145, 155. Back is pretty sore from deadlifts yesterday!
Fun class tonight!
Wod was :54, :51,:52, :51, :50 RX
HBBS 105×10, 115×10, 125×10 (so easy with belt)
I think I can do more. So amazing to watch Steph M and Jessica (Eggs) crush more than 175#. Just completely inspiring. I can’t wait to get stronger— gotta keep pushing myself.