The whole crew from the Barbell Medicine seminar we hosted over the weekend. Thanks for stopping in, gang! | Photo courtesy of Leah from BBM
On Crush Week
By Chris Fox
In the coming cycle, you’ll notice the conspicuous absence of “Crush Week,” the week of programming that has served as an end cap to programming cycles for over 5 years now. The initial intention of Crush Week was to throw down a bit, get outside our comfort zones, and have some fun with longer “Hero-“type WODs that at the time we didn’t really have the resources to run on a regular basis. In many ways it would also serve as a “testing” week, where we’d use these longer-heavier-higher skill metcons to measure improvement of particular movements that we’d trained for the weeks leading up to it. It’s generally always been a week of high volume and intensity, sort of like our own little CrossFit Games, but has presented a challenge for us regular Janes and Joes to properly recover from. You can probably get away with going from doing “Morrison” at 6am directly into sitting at a desk for 6+ hours and be just fine within a day or so. Doing that for 5 days in a row, however… not so much.
While many of you vocally supported Crush Week and looked forward to it, we realize that as many of you silently (and some not so silently) dreaded it and would regularly find reasons to miss those weeks. We get it, Crush Week was brutal. As we ask all of you to do day in and day out, we’re constantly learning, evolving, and changing. In terms of our group class programming, we’ve become increasingly suspicious of the actual training value of Crush Week (as opposed to the perceived value) and feel it’s time to experiment with leaving it out for a while. While lots of people do find a 5-day beatdown “fun,” we feel we can be smarter and space out “crushing” workouts more evenly rather than save them all up for one full week.
The nuts and bolts of a group class programming cycle will look pretty much the same, and if you’re a bit newer to CFSBK, or generally just show up and take each day as it comes, you may not even notice a difference. Most classes will follow the general template of:
DROMS/Warm-Up > Strength/Skill Training > Metcon Prep + Metcon
We’ll still program in mesocycles, using those 6-10 weeks to practice and build strength, skill, and competency in a few chosen movements. We’ll still program regular metcons and not-for-time work of varied mode and time domains to improve conditioning and recovery. The removal of an entire week of Crush Week workouts allows us to now pepper in some of them throughout the cycle while giving space in the preceding and following days to better accommodate for them. This is to say that programming at CFSBK is not about to get easier, just a bit smarter.
As always, we deeply appreciate your trust and commitment to being a part of the process here and value your feedback. If you have any thoughts you’d like to offer on either programming or other aspects of the gym in general, please take a few moments to do so by clicking the link below. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
We’ve got some fun stuff going on at the gym this weekend, and you don’t wanna miss it! Here’s what’s happening:
- Friday night, during Open Gym, we’re running a cornhole tournament. It’s super fun and easy to learn. The fun starts at 6:30pm!
- During Sunday’s Open Gym hours, we’ll be showing the final events of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597.
_____________________
Yesterday’s Results Board: “Run, Cindy, Run!”
Teen Loses Half His Body Weight, Offers Advice to Peers CrossFit Journal
Emotions of the 2018 Regionals CrossFit Games (video)
Wednesday’s Programming
AMRAP 15 Minutes:
5 Front Squats 185/125
10 Lateral Bar Burpees
15 Toes-to-Bars
The Front Squats come off the floor, the first rep can be a full Clean, and they should be on the medium-heavy side for you for 5 reps. The Burpees are Rx’d as a two-foot take off and landing. Stepping over is a scaling option. Scale range of motion on the Toes-to-Bars to Hanging Leg or Knee Raises as needed.
Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.
AG
A.2-3x
130m jog
10 alt renegade rows
10 goblet squats
B.
Rope climb practice
C.
5 rounds @aer
270m run
50ft quadruped bear crawl
1 rope climb
6 SBC, AHAP
2 hour pace, note total time and time for each round. 30 min cap
I appreciate this crush week announcement.
-Ariel, who has been up since 430am with lower back spasms after NOT taking Daniels advice yesterday.
Oh no 🙁
🙁 feel better Ariel!
Thanks guys! It’s ok – I’m ok. It’s down to a dull ache. I’m just sayin, I won’t miss crush week. I think short circuit might be better for my breaking down body anyway.
I think this is a very good idea. I do sometimes feel like Crush Week is simply elder abuse. But seriously … I have been thinking a lot lately about overtraining and recovery. There have been a lot of articles in the NYT (FAKE NEWS!) about how short, intense workouts (90% effort) are as beneficial, if not more so, than longer ones. After Murph or Morrison, perhaps because I am a silver fox, it takes me four or so days to fully recover and sometimes I end up tweaking something and have to take more time off. I have been skipping Crush Week workouts because I feel there is more benefit to ensuring that I stay healthy and consistent in my workouts rather than ripping up my hands. I love the CFSBK culture but I am not in love with other aspects of the Crossfit culture like “Pukie” and even The Games to some extent (which start tomorrow I believe). I feel that it encourages the Average Joe to push beyond the limits of common sense and sacrifice virtuosity for a time or score which, unless you are a pro athlete like Mat Fraser, is ultimately meaningless over the long course of your fitness career. I love the idea of doing Hero WODs and the classic benchmark workouts every so often because they are fun. I think it would be a better, however, if they were less associated with the “practice” of Crossfit than they are now. I know that many of my friends are resistant to trying Crossfit because they don’t want to do those “crazy workouts” all the time. And because I am a clown they don’t believe me when I explain that it’s not about that. Well we don’t do crazy workouts at CFSBK. We follow carefully thought out training cycles that keep us intact and on the GAINZ train and I appreciate it.
So long post. I am not a coach, PT or exercise scientist so please keep this in mind. Also, if you are attracted to the intensity and competitive side of Crossfit by all means go for it. I ain’t going hate ya. I am just probably not going to join you.
Now I’m tired and going to go back to bed.
…not a coach…a silver fox clown. Got it. Good share here J Star. Thanks.
As another CFSBK oldster, I second grandpa Jay’s sentiments.
I never fully understood the rationale behind an entire week of crushing oneself and found myself being conspicuously absent for most of crush week or maybe only showing up for one wod. If we’re spacing them out during the cycle, I may actually be more inclined to test myself.
Anyways, just my .02 but I will say that I thoroughly appreciate the thoughtfulness in the programming at CFSBK and the overall willingness to question and try new approaches.
Meeee toooooo 😍😍
Old people unite!
I too would either skip Crush Week entirely or do at most two of the WODs and then do Strong Fit, Short Circuit, and/or Anti-Gravity instead. I just don’t like punishing my body like that any more.
Any chance the future programming will have us back to squatting twice a week? Pretty please?
Saturday group class…
This workout was SO FUN, but I made some poor choices. My hand tore (the crease between my thumb and index finger) in the middle round. I taped it up so it was protected but then my other one tore too 🙁 I didn’t see it coming at all, but I haven’t been doing much barbell cycling, it was a hot/sweaty day, and I kept my hook grip in to quickly cycle 40 reps @ 85# so… oops.
Partnered with Joe, which was super fun. Scores:
a. 10 rounds + 9 reps @ 85# for me
b. 13 rounds + 10 (?) @ 115#
c. 18 rounds + 1 rep @ 135#
Think that means I did something like 90 power cleans and 160-ish WB shots. Wahoo! The reps at 135 all felt pretty solid. Maybe 1 or 2 lazy ones in there.
Sunday:
18 mile bike ride around brooklyn w/ Coach Brett! Lots of stops for soaking up the views, eating pancakes, getting groceries, etc. Easy pace except for a couple hill sprints. Felt good on the legs after the Sat wod.
Monday:
10 min heat up and shoulder pre-hab
EMOM X 16
a – 12 box jump, step down @ 24″
b – 8 ghd sit up + 8 push-up
box jumps done by :24-:26
situp/pushup done by :30-:31
rest 4 min
EMOM X 16
a – 100m run
b – 15 ghd hip extension +10#
done by :30
rest 4 min (a bit longer I think b/c of logistics)
EMOM X 16
:30 row for meters (80-85%)
123 m, 123 m, 124 m, 125 m, 123 m, 123 m, 125 m, 123 m, 125 m, 124 m, 125 m, 125 m, 126 m, 126 m, 126 m, 130 m
So long crush week. I will miss you!
I am so grateful for the thoughtful approach to programming at SBK! It’s one of the things that stands out the most to me when I visit other gyms. Not concerned about the absence of Crush Week. We get crushed plenty!
Kinda half-hearted solo accessory work today. The Strength Cycle Effect has hit and I am TIRED.
RFESS 35#x8eax3 @ 21×1 tempo
BB row 60#x10, 70#x10x2
Banded side stepx12eax3
Clamshell hold :30eax3
Plate OH dead bug 35#x20x3
(threw in a few wall walks and shoulder taps in between sets of dead bugs because I haven’t been upside down in a while!)
Then I did the 10:00 KB swing/forearm plank EMOM from a few days ago because it looked fun and it was! Used a 50# KB. Started out finishing the swings in about :20, then eventually it was more like :30 swings, :30 plank (mostly because I got sluggish about starting the swings).
I love crush week, but I think I’ve preferred the WODurday Saturday’s a bit more – I do hope we’ll see benchmark workouts worked in somehow, too.
7am doing Monday w/Snickers
41:06 – did the first round RX, scaled to push-ups from knees after that.
Immediately lost my push-ups in the first round. That first one took me over 12 minutes to complete, so I knew something had to give. Pull-ups were feeling good, so I decided to keep at those & switch to knees on the push-ups to keep moving at a reasonable pace and not work to failure each Cindy round. I think it was the right call – my lats are in total shock right now, but 75 pull-ups is a win!
75!! That’s amazing, ktk!
The conspicuous absence of crush week will be different than its conspicuous presence.
I’m of two minds – since I have a hard time pushing myself I get a lot of value from an intense week where there’s no place to hide. I’ve also become better at scaling and finding the right place for me when it’s over my head. Yesterday is a good example. It was hard to scale the run, especially the first one but I knew it would line me up better to keep on pace and not make it all about the run. That said, today I did not do TTB because I have stigmata. Thursday I suspect I’ll regret this post and will come ’round to what Jay said wholeheartedly.
7am with Jess
73# on the bar. Should have been more but then I guess I might have done less. The burpees over the bar were the best I can recall. I did not feel freaked out. I managed to jump up with my feet close to the bar to gain some efficiency that I don’t usually have. Normally I come up from the burpee, step to the bar, give myself a pep talk and then finally go. Jess gave me the GHD as a sub for TTB since I’m too ripped to grip the bar. I scaled those to 10. They didn’t take too much out of me -especially at my pace but I know that they’ll creep up on me and hurt tomorrow. 5 rounds plus 13 reps total. 15 minutes went by fast compared to yesterday!
The constant internal review of how things are done at CFSBK is outstanding. Whether looking at programming, class structures and types and equipment, this gym is always looking to improve- complacent it is not. . I’m another “silver fox” with a love hate relationship to crush week- I dreaded it, but the sense of accomplishment was real. Yesterday was a great example- Rough to finish (38 mins), switched to 6 push-ups a round after 7 rounds, but 75 pull-ups, all in 5’s felt great. And the encouragement from the group was great.
I look forward to how the programming progresses.
David’s recent video on proper grip really saved my hands this morning. I adjusted my grip for the 75 pull-ups this morning and my hands are totally fine where they would have definitely torn before. Thanks D.O.! 😉
https://vimeo.com/280287178
I got you homey!!!!
Strength! ❤️❤️❤️
Squat 185x7x3. Pretty f’ing hard.
Bench 132.5x5x3!!! Made all my reps, whoooooo! I wasn’t sure I would, and the final rep was quite the struggle. As some of you know I can get quite loud when I push out the final rep of a max effort set. I hope I didn’t scare the horses 😛
Pause deadlift 210×5. My legs were actually quite fatigued from the bench — I really had to drive into the floor to keep my butt from coming up on the last rep — so I wasn’t sure how deadlifting was going to go. Fortunately, although warming up felt tough, once I got to work weight I was fine.
So, so happy I signed up for this cycle!
That bench is my 1RM. Respect. Show me your ways.
Coming in late to say that, despite having enjoyed my crush weeks in the past, I also appreciate the decision and love that the programming is dynamic enough that we can say “let’s try to learn and iterate”. If you’re coming to the gym regularly, Crush Week can really just throw you off your rythm – eg I know if I had done the 3/4Murph I would have been crushed for 7+ days. I’m much happier with a strategy where we can balance intense/benchmark workouts through the cycle (Saturdays!), and have the proper setup and recovery for them…
I always thought we were encouraged to embrace our goats and work towards improvement outside our comfort zone? The idea that we are removing something that is part of Crossfit, Hero WODs and the ladies, is very disappointing. If you as an individual dread something, that is on you. How you choose to face the obstacle again is on YOU. You can get coached, you can get advice from more experienced people but you will not get over, under, around or through it unless you do it. Hiding and avoiding doesn’t improve you.
I have heard many times check the ego so maybe you don’t tear into murph with a vest and full volume until you have done it multiple times. Maybe you should have taken down DT on a boat with much lighter weight than you think. Approach Fran knowing you are not going sub 3min at RX but it you go with 20% 1RM weight you actually might.
Personally I have been coming to CFSBK for over 7 years and there are still some of the ladies workouts we have never done and some maybe once and Heroes are few and far between. I think we have done Fran maybe 3-4 times and that is the “popular” one. My point is we don’t as a gym push the big and difficult WODs all the time. I understand we also don’t have the amount of fire-breathers (Sorry 6AMers) that some boxes have and cater to. That still doesn’t mean we should shy away from these kinds of workouts.
When the Open comes will that too become a week of dread and avoidance? Fight Gone Bad? Murph? backsliding and avoiding is never a good option for growth and improvement. By practicing, thinking and focus you can get through those difficult workouts. We are in there together as a group so look to others to help get you through those kinds of workouts. Look inside yourself and find your motivation. Because if you think avoiding and hiding from things is the solution, life is going to teach you otherwise.