Press
Performance
1-1-1
Fitness
3-3-3
Warm up and work up to a heavy single Press. We’re doing strict Presses today. No knees and no moving your feet! A little lay back is okay but don’t get crazy.
Post loads to comments.
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LFPB Challenge Capacity Test WOD: “Jackie”
For Time:
1000m Row
50 Thrusters 45#
30 Pull-Ups
This classic benchmark (and CFSBK Leaderboard item) should hurt a bit and is very much about how much you want to push it. Baller status for doing all the reps all unbroken. Try to keep the bar on your body for all 50 Thrusters . NO BAILING THE EMPTY BARS! If you think you’ll bail, then set up a lighter bar with bumps on it. Resting the bar on your back is allowed. You should be able to complete at least 20 Thrusters unbroken when fresh at the Rx’d load, scale as needed. Scaling for for Pull-Ups today is Jumping or Ring Rows. For the LFPB Challenge, note your score and scaling to compare to your test from the beginning of the Challenge
Post time and Rx to comments.
Farewell to Coach Melissa
By David Osorio
As many of you know by now, Coach Melissa will be leaving CFSBK at the end of this month. She and Alex were presented with an opportunity to purchase Bell City CrossFit in Connecticut, where Melo grew up. We are saddened by her departure from our community but excited for what will no doubt be an incredible new chapter in her and Alex’s life. Melo has been coaching at CFSBK since 2012, and on top of getting her DPT and starting a family, she’s also responsible for launching our Diapers & Dumbbells program. Melo has left a huge impact on CFSBK and touched so many people in her time here. We wish her the best and want her to know she always has an extended CrossFit family back in Brooklyn.
Melo’s last group classes will be on Saturday, March 31st. The final farewell party/drinks for Melo, Alex, and Lily will be Saturday at 4pm at Pig Beach on Union St. All are welcomed!
We’ll miss you, Melo!!! Let’s show her some love in today’s comments!
News and Notes
- Don’t forget to submit your 18.5 scores before 8pm tonight!
- Please get your Post-Challenge Submissions to us no later than this Wednesday, March 28th.
- In case you missed it, we’ll be screening the newly released The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth this Friday night after Open Gym. See the event page for details!
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The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Have to Have About Eating Right Grub Street
Money, Race, Gender, and Their Impact on Obesity Breaking Muscle
Ah Melooooooo! I’m gonna miss you boss. I know I kicked you in the chest five or six times while you were teaching me handstands – but that was out of love! Alright, you might have been pregnant at the time but still … Bell Town seems about as far away as Bay Ridge if you take the R train so I’ll come and visit. Congratulations to you and the fam!
Bell City sorry not sorry.
MELO. Similar to the stages of grief, I was in shock, upset, in denial, and now coming to accept it. You are the epitome of strong humble woman. Thank you for all the group classes and for making me feel less broken when I had no hope. You will be dearly missed!
Also, thanks for reminding me, the secret to reigning the leaderboard is to go have a baby and come back strong AF.
Melo! Congrats on your new (ad)venture! Of course you’ll be missed, but how exciting that you’re doing this!
7 AM pressing with Jaime and Toni-beast. Made 90, failed 95, which is a weight that has eluded me for years. I have to do strength cycle again, I guess. (Toni got 95 in the awesomest possible way — she kept looking from side to side as the bar went up, as though talking to each triceps muscle individually to coax it to get the bar up. I was LOL and amazed at the same time.)
Jackie with ring rows in 8:20. I was still dealing w/shoulder issues in January so I did ring rows to have a fair comparison. I think I was actually a few seconds slower this time! :/ I can’t say I was even close to perfect with LFPB, but with the amount of work stress I’ve been dealing with lately, I can totally deal with maintaining my cardio levels. (I know I’ve gotten better in certain other measures, like max reps strict chins, so there’s that.)
Also, I did crosswords for time this weekend. I had an absolutely killer Saturday and went into yesterday morning in 6th place, and then I made the most boneheaded of all boneheaded mistakes on Sunday morning (I looked up at the clock, saw 10 seconds left in the minute, turned my paper in without checking, and had two BLANK FREAKING SQUARES) which dropped me to 9th. (My trophy says 8th, but someone else moved ahead of me after his paper was rescored last night.)
I am a little bit mad at myself (and you can bet I’ll never make THAT mistake again), but on the other hand it’s still pretty cool that I was able to hang in the top ten despite making a mistake.
Since we have been discussing competitiveness a lot on the blog lately…this is the one arena in which I am genuinely competitive. And I’ve had some really unhealthy attitudes about it over the years — who the hell cries over crossword puzzles? (I have! I have!) The first couple of years that I went from a very good solver to an elite solver, I had serious hopes of one day winning the tournament. Then I would freak out during competition and get sloppy, and mistakes being very expensive, that would knock me down a lot in the rankings and then I’d beat myself up for weeks afterward.
A few years ago I decided that I needed to focus on being perfect, not being fast. This level of caution put me back in the top 10 on a regular basis, but outside the top 5 (especially as new hotshots started to show up). Eventually I decided that I don’t actually need to be *quite* so careful about checking my paper every single time, because I tend to notice things that aren’t quite right as I’m solving and as long as I fix those things before I’m done, I’m okay. This bit me in the ass yesterday, so now I’m learning that there are times when it makes strategic sense to check your paper when you have a few seconds left, and times when it doesn’t. (It would have made EXCELLENT sense to check my paper yesterday, since I would have lost only 1 minute doing so and I had a 3-minute lead on the person in 7th place.)
In any case, I’ve learned to be more objective about analyzing myself and just deciding, “Okay, this is what I need to do differently next time” instead of wasting time being angry at myself for not doing it right THIS time.
Stella I don’t know how you do it but I was so captivated reading your crossword competition write up! I felt like i was watching a VICE Sports special on the cut throat and underground world of competitive crosswords!
LOL, HBO Real Sports was actually filming at the tournament this weekend and Bryant Gumbel was there! I didn’t get to talk to him at all tho.
Hahaha Stella! I was in fact talking to each tricep muscle individually in my head. “Go up, go up go up”
You have definitely got 95 in you!! Absolutely!
Also, loved the post on your Crossword comp! Congrats again!
Good luck with all your changes, Mel! You were the first coach I met here and I immediately felt so welcome, encouraged, and cared for. It’s been great seeing you as a mom-athlete role model!
Melo! This is bittersweet, because while I will miss you dearly, I know you’ll make an absolutely wonderful gym owner and CT is lucky to have you. During the Open I specifically came to the earlier classes because I wanted to have Melo as my coach…something about her presence and coaching style just really helps me stay calm and focused. Also, once we were paired for a partner workout and she said something I think about often: push yourself go back to the bar/rope/whatever a little bit before you really want to. It reminded me that in many cases, I have the strength—it’s the will that I sometimes need to dig deep to find. <3
7am w/ Lauren + Ro
Strict press: hit 70#x1, failed 75#, failed 73#. I know I have 73, but I set up weirdly and rushed because I was running out of time. Think it's time for a rest day 🙂
Jackie in 11:41 RX. Didn't do this in January and actually don't know if I've ever done it before! Pull-ups felt surprisingly good today. Chin-over-bar was a treat after so many chest-to-bars on Saturday!
I've been thinking a lot about my Open performance, and I've found myself feeling like I really could have (should have?) done better. So I've been forcing myself to refocus my attention to the things I achieved: an unbroken double-under PR (60!), my first full ROM HSPU (7 of them, in fact!), plus better, more confident toes-to-bar and chest-to-bar pull-ups. All in all, I had fun, got one new skill and did all 5 workouts RXed. I'll take that 🙂
Now, time to get super strong for Iron Maidens!
Melo, I am so excited for you! You are a complete inspiration and of course will be sorely missed, but owning your own Crossfit gym is such an incredible adventure! They are incredibly lucky to have you over there. Please come back and visit often!
Presses today were alright. PR is 78# and I noted that the weight felt easy, so “attempt 80# next time”. What I WANTED to do today was 75-78-80. What I did was (75F) – (75 grindy, uneven with terrible form) – (75). Thank you Ro, for calling me out on failing my first attempt!! haha
Happy with the LFPB Capacity re-test today. Finished in 9:30. I was 1:10 faster this time around compared to three months ago. I don’t think my row was much faster, but my thruster schema was much more efficient. Today I went 20-15-15 with minimal rest, as opposed to five sets of 10 back in January.
Odd that today’s thrusters felt heavier than 18.5’s 65# thrusters! I guess that’s what rowing 1000m will do to ya.
Melo’s an inspiring athlete, a thoughtful & thorough coach, and is sure to be a badass business owner! I’m so sad but DAMN it’s super cool too.
Speaking of Melo…OG programming this morning!
Warm up
Thoracic rotation + stretch, upper back + lat foam roll
3x:
1:00 row
100ft OH carry – used 20# x2 and then 25#
:45 forearm plank
12 goblet squat – 12kg
A1)
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (21×1)
1 set no weight then 3×6 w/15# dbs
These are hard!
A2)
Bent Over DB Row
3×8 w/20# and then 25#
Good!
4 rounds:
:30 du practice – not good
16 walking lunge, alternating (8 each side)
10 calorie AB
Sore from skwatz yesterday so legs is ded!
Melissa it has been amazing to wrangle babies with you at Diapers and Dumbells. I will miss you dearly but am so happy for you and your whole family.
Melo! I’m sad to see you go. I’ve always appreciated your thoughtful guidance and calming and simultaneously encouraging approach. I really will come see you in CT. Both of my kids went to college nearby (my son in New Haven and my daughter in Hartford) and I learned to really like both places and stops along the way. I miss pizza in New Haven, and the Mark Twain House in Hartford is one of my very favorite day trips! Please, please, please don’t shy away from a bon voyage party!
8 am with Lauren
A little out of it today. Sniffles and sneezes. On the other hand I slept an unheard of 10 hours last night.
Press – I lied. I did not PR. I tied. 73#. I made too much of a jump from there to 83 (duh) and then back down to 78 and failed that 2x. Tried 76. Maybe if I knew my 1RM was 73 and planned more gradual increases I would have lifted the 76 or even 75. Bad planning. Then came Jackie. Hey girl, long time no see. I missed this in January so would have to go back a way to compare. I felt great on the row – stayed around 29 s/m adding 10 hard, fast pulls at 300m and 700m. Sub 5 but then cam the thrusters. This is the first time I RXed them and I had such a hard time that I was at 10 minutes before I moved on. I went directly to the ring rows and did not challenge my set up very much. Sub 13. Why, why, why do I let go of the bar with only 2 reps left? I have to work on endurance and moxy ’till the end!
This is long but I want to add my Open score for 18.5! 44 reps RX! Yet another Open workout that allowed me the opportunity to surprise myself.
My approach for every workout has been to try to go Rx all the way and see how many reps I could get. Even 18.2 – my worst in terms of relatively to other women in my age group and in terms of hating every second of it – offered a challenge that I met with more achievement than I expected. I feel like I need to reassess my strength and skills and set my own bar higher on a regular basis. Push more, work on endurance, practice skills more regularly. As I shared with my team – my mother recently told me that I need to face that I’m not getting any younger but after this open I think I kinda am! Kippin’ it real! Thanks everyone for such fun, spirited Open. Shout out to Erika – a great team captain and to Brett for putting together competitive teams and organizing great FNLs!
Melo!
I’m so excited for you and this opportunity. You’ll be such a great gym leader. I’ll miss your excellent warmups, great coaching and sense of humor- a terrific combination of fun and accountability.
8 AM class with Lauren.
Press 5×45, 3×95, 1×135,
2x1x145 (both fails) and 1×142 (pr).
First time attempting Jackie- 9:45 RX. Need to work on pull up stamina for sure.
18.5- 44 reps! Used the switch grip to get the ctb’s.
Very happy overall with my Open. Learned a ton (yes, double unders can make your jaw sore). My best result was in the movement i’ve been working on the most (OHS). Have to work on a plan to continue to add strength while also getting more skilled. Definitely felt prepared given the programming leading up.
Congratulations, Melissa! The folks in CT are lucky to have you.
Congrats Melissa!! xx
ohhhh man, it’s hard for me to put into words how much i’ll miss MeLo
You’ve always been a role model athlete for me, a fellow competitor, coworker, and incredible friend.
It’s been fun bantering with you over the years about things in general, and random nerdy anatomy things, especially when PT school got tough. We even took our boards exam in the same room on the same day! Even though it was short lasting, i’m so glad we were able to practice in the same clinic. Made our whole experience through all of this crap come full circle. I’ll miss that a lot!
As for all of the CrossFit stuff. I’ve always looked to up to you as that person who was fun not only fun to train with, but you were also the perfect person to help me push in the gym, because for the most part, her score was always out of reach 🙂 Competing with you at Beast of the East and Wodapalooza was one of the scarier things I did (because I was still nervous about being competitive), but having her as a teammate helped with my confidence and I don’t think I would have ever considered a competition like WZA if it weren’t for you and Tina.
Can’t wait to come and visit your new space, and I hope that you all come back to see us often.
Alex, I’m going to miss you just as much! Back in the day when I didn’t know Alex very well, he walked into the gym wearing a crew neck sweatshirt of a kitten riding a unicorn who also happened to be shooting fire and lasers from his paws. He looked at kate after he complimented his sweatshirt, and he said “You want this one? I’ve got two of them.” The fact that you had not only one, but two of those sweatshirts, means that you will forever be at the top of my all time favorite person list. You’re like a YouTube tech wizard. I don’t ever want that disappear from my life. Please keep producing content and posting on our blog, the people of South Brooklyn need this.
All the best to you guys and Lily-ann : ) love you very much!
my grammar is bad in this passage, i keep switching tenses, I didn’t edit this well. I apologize Melissa I hope this doesn’t offend you
this post is giving me all the feels
MeLo! Congrats again. Talk about a great role model for all returning moms.
You and KHarpz were instrumental in not only getting me back to the gym after my ACL surgery but getting me back stronger with more skills. And I don’t complain about my hip anymore either!
Your endless positive energy and great sense of humor will be missed. The athletes in Bell City are getting a great owner!
MeLo!!! Congrats!! I am super excited for you, but so sad to see you guys leave CFSBK. It’s always awe-inspiring to see you workout and you have one of the most positive attitudes of anyone I know. Thank you for being such an amazing coach and creating the D&D class too! Wishing you the best of luck at Bell City!!
Mel the Coach – I couldn’t be more proud of the professional you’ve become. The combination of knowledge, ability, and compassion that you possess is unmatched. Its been fun watching you grow, and getting to look up to and learn from you, as a coach. You’ll be an amazing success in CT and they are lucky to have you.
Mel the Athlete – always remember that I beat you in a workout that one time when you were 8.5 months pregnant with Lily…
Mel the Friend – beach volleyball, softball, tacos, too many sangritas and margs, motorcycle rides (you got a tattoo!), laying down motorcycles, and lots of laughs during lots of other good times have been a pleasure. We’ll look forward to visiting you guys in CT.
I’m in The Netherlands for work for two weeks, in a fairly random, quirky, small town called Harderwijk, about an hour from Amsterdam. It’s surrounded by wind turbines in the distant fields. The main industries are fishing, light manufacturing, a small university, and apparently they have a quite popular, albeit a little dated Dolphin aquarium aptly called the “Dolfinarium”.
They also happen to have an excellent, small, enthusiastic CrossFit gym, which I immediately joined (the classes are in Dutch, of course, but English is well spoken here). They recently expanded into a former warehouse space with a big garage door, next to the train tracks. I imagine it’s a little like CFSBK in its early days.
We did Jackie today as well. Sporting my CFSBK shirt, I repped us with pride. Pulled erg splits of 1:44 using Crash-B strategies and finished overall at 8:27. We also did some interesting kettle bell bench presses today which I’d never done before.
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I will miss Melissa! Always so nice, positive, observant, and taught me a lot. It’s an awesome opportunity to run her own gym and congratulations!
MeLo!!!!! Such an incredible super human, as strong as she is gracious and kind. Just casually crushing the leaderboard across workouts, and with a smile on her face! An inspiration right from the very start of my CrossFit days – our loss is a huge gain for another fitness community.
Press: 65×5, 75×3, 80×3, 85×1, 90F
Wanted to get some volume, so decided to try to get to what felt like a max effort triple, then go for some singles. (88 is my PR – 90 will happen one day).
Jackie: 10:06 – 13 seconds faster than January. Body was not thrilled about more thrusters and pull-ups.
18.5: 77 Reps. Really happy considering that C2B are not my jam. Switch grip the whole time, only to realize afterwards that I can actually kip with a chin-up grip. Maybe bust out those moves next year in the open.
Melissa: You seriously changed my life. I wandered into Diapers + Dumbbells last February (I think it was the second class ever!) and I had no idea what it was except that someone had posted about a postpartum fitness class in the neighborhood and I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t even really know what crossfit was. Now, a year and change later, I’m seriously way stronger and healthier than I *ever* was before I had two babies. If you had told me last year that I would get up three times a week to be at a 7am crossfit class, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am!
I will miss you a lot, and best of luck in Connecticut! Maybe I’ll come visit your new gym one of these days at the babies can have a playdate!
Love,
Robin
Melissa! Huge congrats on the new chapter. So exciting and no doubt you’ll kill it up in CT. Thank you for introducing me to the Overheard Press, for fixing my back, and for being a smiling, positive, encouraging presence at the gym always. You’ll be missed!
MeLo- you’ve deeply impacted my life! You are an incredible role model- humble, strong, hard-working… but so level-headed. You are so amazing, yet you aren’t intense about how talented and incredible you are as an athlete, a professional, and mom— I can’t explain it, but I strive to be more like you.
Good luck to you and your family- I’m so happy you can have the life you want and deserve! Congratulations!! We will absolutely miss you!
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Decided to take a rest day, as I probably won’t have another one this week 😛
Melissa, you’re amazing. You’re such a force as an athlete first of all, talk about a model of excellence in Crossfit. Moreover, you’re a wise, patient, caring, and super tough (in the best ways possible) coach. You’ve pushed me, you’ve supported me, you’ve taught me so much and inspired me. You helped me heal from my injury and have reminded me often that we always have aches and pains but that we can always modify and get back up and actually do better. I feel stronger physically of course but have gained so much confidence because of your coaching. Plus we have sung together, laughed a lot, and you’ve become a friend and I feel so lucky to have had the last year of our one-on-one time. Your future gym is going to be soooo lucky to have you and Alex (and Lily) at the helm. I’ll miss you. See you in the am!
Congratulations Melo and Alex! New chapter in you’re lives, with your beautiful daughter, that I’m sure will be nerve racking and exciting, and rewarding all at the same time.
I’ll certainly miss your expertise in group class but also I will miss watching you and Alex and your incredible feats of fitness!!
Good luck in the big move, I’ll be out of the city Friday so i won’t be able to make it for your farewell party. Have a drink for me!!
Congratulations Melissa! You’ll be missed but I’m so excited for you in this new venture. I have so much respect for your thoughtful, patient coaching, and have no doubt you’ll do amazing things in CT.
Stella—loved reading your post so much that I’m sending it to a colleague. Way to crush it!
Melo! You will be so missed. As one of my first coaches at CFSBK you immediately calmed my nerves with your supportive, efficient and caring approach. Also cannot thank you enough for your TLC thru pregnancy and after with all things baby/fitness/healing. Huge gain for CT, please come back and visit us! xoxoxo
Melo!!! What a bittersweet moment – you’ll be so so missed as a fantastic coach and as an example (and inspiration) of a strong confident woman… But then the world will gain another amazing CF gym where I’m sure you’ll be super successful. I’ll make sure to add Bristol as a stop when I’m driving to Vermont. You’ve always been such a kind calming presence and you’ll be missed.
Press 145-155-162* (2lb PR!)
Jackie 9:24 Rx
Better than the beginning of challenge by 1:25min. I’m happy but still feel like I could have done better. Thrusters came apart a bit in the middle. Pull-ups were OK in quick sets of 5.
Melo: I’m happy for you! I’ll miss you too! You’ve been an inspiration. For realz.
Thank you Melissa for all that you’ve done to make CFSBK awesome. You’re such an amazing coach! Will be sad to see you go 🙁 but best of luck on the next adventure!
Hit a small PR today at 78lbs, felt pretty good! I think I had 80 in me but ran out of time. Excited to try again soon!
Challenge went well enough at 10:05. I looked back and I wrote down over 17 min 12 weeks ago which feels very off? I must have looked at the wrong clock the first time around which stinks. Or maybe my 7s are really 2s or 1s and I can’t read my own handwriting. I’m not sure, but it feels unlikely I was that slow the first time around
Still my gut tells me I did better this time around 🙂 felt pretty steady throughout.
Melo represents everything I love about CFSBK. So welcoming. So willing to help. Smart coach. Great athlete.
The folks in Connecticut are striking gold! Good luck on the big move!
Melo – you were one of the first coaches i encountered and i felt so comfortable right away. Thanks for all your patience and positivity – all the best in CT!!
Melo, I’m heartbroken that you are leaving but happy that you will be starting a new adventure. I wish I did more classes with you as my experience with you was always positive. You will be missed!