Workout of the Day
STRENGTH
Shoulder Press
1-1-1-1-1
Notes
Work up to a heavy single today! Talk to your coaches about what your goal weight is and they can help you with a plan of attack. Make sure to REST at least 2.5-3 minutes between your attempts. Here are two examples for today:
Goal of 135×1
45×10
75×5
95×2
105×1 (last WU)
115×1 (safe single)
125×1 (challenging but safe single)
135×1
140×1
145F
Goal of 75×1
25×10 (green bar + fractionals)
35×3
45×3
55×1 Last Warm-Up
65×1 (safe single)
70×1 (challenging but safe single)
75×1
80F
78F
METCON
AMRAP 5:00
1-2-3-4-5-6… Reps of:
Hang Power Clean
Shoulder to Overhead
Notes
Perform 1 HPC, followed by 1 S2OH. Then 2 and 2, 3 and 3 etc for 5 minutes. Choose a medium heavy weight (115/95/75/45/-)
CrossFit Group Class Programming Template (WK11/12)
The Passing of Dr. Mike
It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of longtime CFSBK member, Dr. Mike Cutaia. Dr. Mike and his wife Judy started personal training with David back in 2012 and quickly became staples of the community. Every time Mike walked through our doors he did so with enthusiasm, humility, curiosity and a relentless desire to improve. As an older athlete and someone who had persevered through many health struggles in the past, his athletic training became somewhat of a second lease on life. He was a relentless advocate for the power of exercise and community and praised CrossFit to anyone who would listen. He even completed our coaching development program with the intention of helping out with the Fit55 program and obtained his CrossFit level 1 at the site of the original CrossFit Games. Professionally, he served as a physician of pulmonary critical care for over 30 years at the VA here in Brooklyn and touched countless lives in his career as a physician as well as a mentor to his medical residents. In his personal life he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. Dr. Mike was a kind soul with a deep love of life and passion for learning about the human condition. He was always quick to muse about philosophy, poetry, art, sport and their respective intersections. He loved meeting people and his kindness and warmth were immediately evident to all who were lucky enough to interact with him. We loved him deeply and will miss him.
Read Dr. Mike’s Athlete of the Month Interview from September 2013
A collection of Poems written by Dr. Mike inspired by his time at the gym
Mayhem
April 4th, 2015
It usually happens as I enter the gym.
The mayhem engulfs me. Like the schoolyard
of my youth,
the noise and music are loud, compelling,
touching something inside that is primal.
Bodies in motion. Sweat in the air. Animals at work.
The senses are quickly primed and ready.
One particular image emerges often. My mind rolls back
through centuries of time to a hot, dusty plain
somewhere in the ancient Roman Empire.
Maybe, … my people in Sicily?
Gladiators stand tall, quiet,
and defiant in the heat of the sun.
The tigers growl unfed and waiting.
And I am somewhere in their midst,
standing on the hot sand
of the amphitheatre floor
breathing hard, sun in my eyes,
the roar of the crowd
running right through my head.
And then, suddenly the daydream ends.
I am brought forward a couple of thousand years
to this night in the gym.
The music blares. The plates bang down.
The visible struggle within each of us,
shared with all our collective senses,
to be something more
than what we are.
It’s brutal in a different way.
But, unlike my relatives from long ago,
no one will die tonite.
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD
August 15, 2014
It’s hard to know where the titles come from.
Out of nowhere. Or, from somewhere
long forgotten. This one appeared during a hard session
of volume work, grunting through some back squats
like a sweaty warthog having a bad day. Emerging
from some childhood recess in my brain,
triggered by who knows what (?), I recall
this title of a hymn, sung by an eight year old
practitioner of prayer, standing lonely and alone
amidst the loud congregation members
petitioning urgently to their Lord.
This was the Scottish Presbyterian church
where I was sent to “to get some structure”
for my life. My parents didn’t go. Just me–
a little chubby Italian elephant, out of place,
and hiding at the feet of the loud sonorous
indifferent adults in this house of righteous song,
along with my barely perceptible squeaks
of chorus. But, now I realize
what a gift they gave me. To accept all of
my bodily music. How special is this corporeal feat
of motion and sound in the gym. Not a PR,
but something just as good. As Walt Whitman
would say, I’m celebrating myself today.
I’m in the church of the body.
Meatballs and Back Squats
July 26, 2015
I’m wondering if I am
alone about this.
What do you do
after a session of heavy back squats?
Go home and sleep? Go for a run?
Go fishing? Make love?
Have a margarita?
(I did, once. Never again.)
Or, just congratulate yourself
that the ordeal is over.
Where I’m likely to be found
is sitting
in front of a bowl
of Whole Foods meatballs,
scarfing down my protein
like a dog in heat,
this incredibly powerful hungriness
sweeping over me.
My brain is screaming—EAT!
The furnace is on blast mode,
as if a switch has been thrown.
I need to do something
to turn it off.
So, I rehydrate with a beer,
and send those meatballs deep down
into the muscle protein factory.
Go, be fruitful and multiply!
Ah, what a satisfying Sunday.
Bon appetit, and stay hungry
my fellow post-squatters!
The Reluctant Athlete
June 10th, 2016
She doesn’t extoll the virtues of
our gym work,
wringing grimaces
of boredom and pain
from family members,
like I do.
She doesn’t write down her results
or do bar math.
She doesn’t remember what squat weight
she did last week,
or waste time
with the fine points of deadlifting.
She doesn’t record PR’s.
She doesn’t watch the action
in the gym like I do,
screaming silently “yes!”
when I see a good one.
She doesn’t check out
the Instagram pics.
But, I know she is a Crossfitter
because when we miss a session,
she says, “I don’t feel right today. I need to move
and do some work.”
Ah… the sound of music in my ears!
In our never-ending quest to be your one-stop fitness shop, we’re very happy to offer massage therapy with Leah DeCesare, LMT!