Coach David, Herschel, and Annie Thorisdottir (who placed 3rd in last weekend’s CrossFit Games) back in 2013, when CFSBK hosted the announcement of Open Workout 13.2. Just one of many highlights from CFSBK’s 10-year history! 

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. Hey, speaaaaking of 10 years… this week we announced the date of our 10th Anniversary Party. Save the date: this shindig goes down the evening of September 30th!

2. While you have your calendar out, save another date: Fight Gone Bad 2017 is slated for Saturday, October 21st. We’ll have sign-up info soon!

3. Everybody loves new gym gear! This week we debuted a shiny new set of 40 color-coded Rogue Fixed Length Speed Ropes to improve your fitness experience. See Wednesday’s post for details.

4. Another year has gone by, and it’s time once again for an NYC affiliate throw down: the seventh annual Subway Series! All NYC affiliates are invited to participate—the affiliate with the best overall score at the end of four events wins the Subway Series Trophy and bragging rights for a whole year!  Early bird registration ends on September 5th.

5. Tomorrow’s 10am Yoga for Athletes class is cancelled. Yoga for Athletes will be cancelled for the rest of August while Coach Whit is out of town. Class will resume on September 2nd!

6. Tomorrow’s Kids Club Night is cancelled. Bummer! If your kid is signed up, the front desk staff will be in touch soon with refund info.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Snatch | Run, 3 Rounds of “Cindy”
The Science of Detraining Sci-Fit
Dylan Cooper Clean and Jerks 300 lbs While Solving a Rubik’s Cube BarBend

Snatch Complex

Every Minute on the Minute x 12 Reps:
Snatch High Pull + Mid-Hang Snatch

The pull from the floor on the Snatch High Pull should be purposeful and balanced, with your weight balanced over mid-foot. Aim to make a few reps at/above 80%.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6 of 8
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3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
3 Rounds of “Cindy”

The CrossFit Benchmark “Cindy” is: 5 Pull-Ups + 10 Push-Ups + 15 Squats. Scale the Pull-Ups to bands or Ring Rows as needed.

Post time and Rx to comments.

The 2017 Subway Series Kicks Off at CFSBK

Another year has gone by, and it’s time once again for an NYC affiliate throw down: the seventh annual Subway Series! All NYC affiliates are invited to participate—the affiliate with the best overall score at the end of four events wins the Subway Series Trophy and bragging rights for a whole year! This year, the first event happens right here at CFSBK on Saturday, September 16th! Here’s the rest of the schedule:

Saturday, September 30th: CrossFit Queens
Saturday, October 14th: CrossFit Gantry
Saturday, October 28th: CrossFit Virtuosity

This year’s Subway Series is using a team format (M/M and F/F) and there are both Scaled and Rx’d divisions, so we hope as many CFSBKers as possible will sign up. As you can tell from last year’s photos, it’s a fun day. You can register here, but hurry: early bird pricing only lasts through September 5th!

News and Notes

• This Saturday’s 10am Yoga for Athletes class is cancelled. Yoga for Athletes will be cancelled for the rest of August while Coach Whit is hiking Mont Blanc. Class will resume on September 2nd!
• Missing something? Recent lost and found items are up on our Flickr account, here and here. Claim your stuff before we donate it to CHIPS in two weeks!
• Today’s 4:30pm CrossFit Teens class is cancelled. All Tuesday and Thursday CrossFit Teens classes will be cancelled for the next two weeks. Class will resume on Tuesday, August 29th.

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Back Squat / Front Squat | Power Snatches, Toes-to-Bars
Dogs Understand Fairness, Get Jealous Study Finds NPR
Rich Froning Shares Second Place Thoughts Following 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games BarBend

THIS SATURDAY: CFSBK KIDS CLUB NIGHT!

Want a night off for yourself and your kids? Sign up for CFSBK’s Kids Club Night! Your kid will engage in fun movement activities and games, eat pizza, and watch a movie. We’ll need at least 5 kids to run the event, and right now we have 4 signed up. Make plans to treat yourself and leave the rest to us…

What:  
We’ve organized a night of CrossFit kids physical activities and games. We’ll all share a pizza dinner and then watch The NeverEnding Story on the CFSBK big screen.

When: 
Saturday, August 12th from 6 to 9 PM

Who: 
Kids ages 3-12. Parents can hang out if they want or go out on the town!

Cost: 
$50 per child with a 40% discount for additional siblings. Dinner will be provided. Late pickups will result in a $25 fee.

REGISTER HERE!

Kids Club Night is capped at 15 children. Please RSVP by tomorrow at midnight!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Bench Press / Split Squat | NFT Work
Habits vs Goals Farnam Street
2017 CrossFit Games Highlights CrossFit

BENCH PRESS / SPLIT SQUAT SUPERSET*

A1) Tempo (31×1) Bench Press:
3 x 8

Heavier than last week.

A2) Tempo (31×1) Split Squat:
3 x 8e

Set back foot on a 16-20 inch box and load as appropriate with dumbbells or kettlebells held goblet-style. Heavier/better than last week. If last week was tough, then use the same load and try to perform the reps better.

*Warm up and then perform a set of Bench Presses, followed by a set of Split Squats on each leg. Repeat for 3 work sets of each, resting about a minute between movements. Use a 31×1 tempo for both movements. The last few reps of each set should be tough, but the goal is no misses.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6 of 8
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4-6 Rounds Not for Time (or 20 Minutes):
150′ Farmer Carry, as heavy as possible unbroken
Max Strict Ring Dips (1-2 RIR)

The carry is 75′ out and 75′ back. You can place the implements down at the turnaround but pick them right back up within a few seconds to come back. Aim to begin with at least 7 Dips, scale accordingly. “RIR” stands for “Reps in Reserve”. In other words, you should end the sets to 1 or 2 reps shy of failure. Scale the dips to the Matador as available or to Ring Push-Ups or regular Push-Ups. There should be plenty of space to do Elevated Push-Ups as a further scaling option as needed.

Post work to comments.

A post shared by CrossFit South Brooklyn (@crossfitsouthbrooklyn) on Aug 4, 2017 at 6:32am PDT

From our Instagram account: “Neal G. and Coach Chris Fox have been doing personal training for about 10 years now, starting at NYSC, before Coaches Chris and Jess Fox jumped ship to CFSBK. Here’s to another 10!!!”

Save the Date(s): 10th Anniversary Party and Fight Gone Bad 2017

We have a couple of important save the dates for you on this fine Monday morning. Get your iCals, day planners, calendars, Palm Pilots, farmers almanacs, clay tablets & etc. ready!

The first is CFSBK’s 10th Anniversary Party! Woohoo! This shindig goes down the evening of Saturday, September 30th (exact time TBD). The traditional 10th anniversary gift is tin or aluminum, but we don’t want your recyclables. We just want you to show up, drink some drinks, get down with your gym buds, and help us celebrate 10 years of making Brooklyn a better, fitter borough! Get stoked!

The second is Fight Gone Bad 2017, which will happen on Saturday, October 21st. Since 2008, CrossFit South Brooklyn has conducted a yearly fundraiser in the form of a workout called “Fight Gone Bad.” Last year, we raised over $30,000 for the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF), a local organization dedicated to improving the lives of people in Brooklyn by strengthening communities through local giving, grant-making, and community service. This year, we’ll be partnering with BCF again and hope to surpass last year’s donation numbers. We’ll have sign up info soon!

News and Notes

• Missing something? Recent lost and found items are up on our Flickr account, here and here. Claim your stuff before we donate it to CHIPS in two weeks!
• We need just one more RSVP to run next Saturday’s Kids Club Night. See the event page for details!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Clean and Jerk | C2B Pull-Ups, Pistols, Double-Unders
Emotional Intelligence Needs a Rewrite Nautilus
Women’s Fibonacci Final Finish CrossFit Games

Clean and Jerk Complex

Every 90 Seconds for 10 Reps:
Clean High Pull + Mid-Hang Clean + Jerk

The pull from the floor on the Clean High Pull should be purposeful and balanced, with your weight balanced over mid-foot. The dip/drive should also be balanced and not pull you forward. Aim to make a few reps at/above 80%.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
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AMRAP 12 Minutes:
6 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
12 Alternating Pistol Squats (6e)
24 Double-Unders

Sub Chin-over-Bar or Jumping Pull-Ups as needed. Scale the pistols to box pistols as needed. Elevating your working leg to a box is a scale for lack of strength/flexibility in the non-squatting leg. Squatting to a box scales for the same things but also allows you to reduce the ROM and need for balance a bit. Use a box height that still allows significant ROM, or scale to Goblet Forward Lunges. Scale the Dubs to Singles or 10 attempts as needed.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

Next Sunday: The Starting Strength Program Total

Coach Jeremy and Coach Margie’s Starting Strengthers will wrap up their eight-week cycle on Sunday, August 13th starting at 2:00pm. Lifters will be testing their 1RMs in the Back Squat, Press, and Deadlift. All are welcome to come by, hang out, and do some cheering. Get ready for some massive PRs!

News and Notes

• Today’s 2:15pm Free Intro class is cancelled. 
• Today’s Active Recovery and Anti-Gravity classes are also cancelled.
• During today’s group classes and Open Gym hours, we’ll be showing the final day of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597. All the more reason to get yourself to CFSBK today!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: A Very Long Metcon
Gambino Enforcer Abandons Life of Crime to Save Animals NY Daily News
A Day in the Life of Sara Sigmundsdottir CrossFit Mayhem

Totally appropriate things happening at the gym. This is an amazing thoracic spine partner extension drill. Stop staring at us …really, just try it. It will change your life. Have a safe word and dont forget to switch so that the top becomes the bottom. Really, please stop staring…. unless you’re into that. 👀 @davidosorio__ @lsnisky #crossfit #mobility #nojudgments #flexpositive

A post shared by CrossFit South Brooklyn (@crossfitsouthbrooklyn) on Aug 2, 2017 at 6:48am PDT

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1.  Throughout this weekend’s group classes and Open Gym hours, we’ll be showing the final days of the CrossFit Games on our big screen (without audio) at 597. All the more reason to do some fitness at your favorite gym this weekend!

2. On Monday, we posted a fun Instagram vid of Erica D. getting all gymnasty at OG. If you do a CFSBK-related post, don’t forget to geotag us and use the #CFSBK hashtag. Who knows, you might end up on one of these member mashups we’ve been doing!

3. We need just one more RSVP to run next Saturday’s Kids Club Night. See the event page for details!

4. On Wednesday, we reposted one of last summer’s Guide to Cues, Coach David’s “Knees Out!” Check it out here.

5. Yesterday we “introduced” (you may already know them) some guest coaches you might see at the whiteboard in the coming weeks. Hello Lauren B., Morit S., and Keith Van W.!

6. Celebrate the end of summer—don’t worry, not too soon!—with your CFSBK buds.On Saturday, September 2nd, CFSBK will be hosting a potluck at Prospect Park. Come lounge on the grass, throw some frisbee, toss the ol’ pigskin, and hang out with your gym buds. What better way to spend Labor Day weekend?

7. We have a few schedule changes this weekend. Today’s 10am Yoga for Athletes and 11am Active Recovery classes are cancelled.  Sunday’s 2:15pm Free Intro class is also cancelled.
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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
How One Woman Went from Counting Blueberries on the Plate, to Counting Plates on the Barbell Girls Gone Strong
Why Newborn Babies Smell So Delicious NY Mag

Mo S.: One of a few “new” faces you might see at the whiteboard over the coming weeks!

Welcoming Guest Coaches to CFSBK

By David Osorio

As you may have heard, Coaches Whitney and Brett are heading out with Jenna J., Kristin H., Katie M., and Sean M. to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc. This is a 9 day, 110 mile hike that circumnavigates Mont Blanc while traveling through Switzerland, Italy, and France. After that Whitney and Brett will be going to San Sebastian, Spain for four days to enjoy the food, the beach, and some surfing after the long trek. Their final stop is a small fishing village in Sweden called Viken where former CFSBK members Mo A. and Kat S. moved a few months ago. They’ll be back to coaching in September!

So we want to give you all a heads up about some guest coaches you may see at CFSBK in August. To help with coverage, we’re bringing in three all-star coaches from outside of our training staff to fill in while they’re gone. Check out the short bios below and look forward to seeing them in upcoming classes!

Morit Summers

Morit has been working out in a gym since she was 14 years old. She graduated from SUNY Cortland with a BS in Exercise Science and Kinesiology and has been a personal trainer since then. It has been about 11 years now, which is hard to believe. Since than, I have been a personal trainer at Equinox and now am off running my own show. She’s very excited to be helping out at CrossFit South Brooklyn!

Lauren Borducci

Lauren has been coaching individuals of wide ranging ages and experience since 2012. She trains private clients around Brooklyn and coaches the parent-baby fitness class, Diapers & Dumbbells, at CFSBK.

Keith Van Wickler

Snatch Complex

Every 90 Seconds x 10 Reps:
Snatch High Pull + Mid-Hang Snatch

The pull from the floor on the Snatch High Pull should be purposeful and balanced, with your weight balanced over mid foot. Aim to make a few reps at/above 80%.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
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3 Rounds for Time: 
500m Row
20 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
40 Sit-Ups

Aim to do all the reps unbroken and push the pace a bit on the rows. Keep moving!

Post time and Rx to comments.

Coaches MeLo and Lauren demo the Press at yesterday’s Diapers & Dumbbells class, but Lilyanne is more interested in changing the music. Diapers & Dumbbells meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11 to noon. Tell your friends! 

SAVE THE DATE: CFSBK PROSPECT PARK POTLUCK ON SEPTEMBER 2ND

Celebrate the end of summer—don’t worry, not too soon!—with your CFSBK buds. On Saturday, September 2nd, CFSBK will be hosting a potluck at Prospect Park. Come lounge on the grass, throw some frisbee, toss the ol’ pigskin, and hang out with your gym buds. What better way to spend Labor Day weekend?

We’ll be on the hill south of the Picnic House from 2pm on. Bring a dish or drink to share. Friends, family, and dogs are, of course welcomed. We can’t wait to see you there!

News and Notes

• This Sunday’s 2:15 pm Free Intro class is cancelled. 
• We need just one more RSVP to run next Saturday’s Kids Club Night. See the event page for details!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Back Squat / Front Squat | Squats, HSPUs, Deadlifts
The Best Running Stride? The One That Comes Naturally NY Times
Ro vs Boz: O-Course CrossFit

Tempo Back Squat / Tempo Front Squat (De-load)

Tempo Back Squat (31X1):
2 x 4

Tempo Front Squat (31X1):
1 x 4

2 sets of Back Squats, followed by 1 set of Front Squats. Use the same load as in Week 1’s sets of 8. These should feel light and crisp.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
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Every 3 Minutes for 5 Rounds:
21 Squats
7 Handstand Push-Ups
3 Deadlifts 315/225

Score fastest and slowest times. You should be pretty warm from Squatting but don’t just jump to work weight on the Deadlift. The load on the bar should be heavy for you and require 3-4 jumps in weight to get there. Similarly, don’t kick up to a wall for the first time for your first Handstand Push-Up. Warm them up with a few kick ups, then do a few reduced ROM reps, then a few full ones. If you’re doing Box Piked Handstand Push-Ups, then warm those up similarly.

Post fastest time, slowest time, and Rx to comments.

A post shared by CrossFit South Brooklyn (@crossfitsouthbrooklyn) on Jul 31, 2017 at 2:30pm PDT

You know we love Spikeball at CFSBK. We even had a Spikeball tournament last summer. But did you know we love it this much?

The CFSBK Guide to Cues: Knees Out

By David Osorio
Originally posted on 6.29.16

Knees out! Chest up! Flat back! The verbal cue is one of the most important tools in a CrossFit coach’s repertoire. You likely have some sense of what these commands mean, but in this new blog feature, we’d like to take a look at some common cues. From time to time, we’ll be offering these short guides to explain what these mean and why they’re important. First up is one we’ve probably all heard: knees out!

When might you hear it in class, and what does it mean?

You’ll usually hear it during some sort of squatting activity, but it can apply to any movement that requires you to bend your knees (e.g., the take-off in a Box Jump or the Olympic lifts). The intention is to keep your knee over your midfoot by shoving your knees out, rather than letting them cave in. In the photos below, note how Lauren’s knee is aligned over her midfoot (left) rather than drifting inward (right).

Why is it important?

When you align your knee over the middle of your foot and maintain that position throughout the movement, you are aligning the muscles of your leg to most effectively produce force, as well as minimizing soft tissue stress. Put simply, if your knees are over the middle of your feet during a Back Squat, you’ll be moving the weight upwards in a straight line. If your knees cave in or splay out, the force you exert won’t be used efficiently to move the weight back up. Instead, it will be absorbed by your soft tissue in a counterproductive way. Pushing your knees out reduces wear and tear on your joints, and who doesn’t want that?

What can I do to fix it?

As far as Squats and the Olympic lifts are concerned, the first and easiest thing you can do is buy weightlifting shoes. An elevated heel allows you to maintain more dorsiflexion of your foot, which is especially useful if you have tight ankles. Lifting shoes provide a stable platform on which you can more effectively engage your feet and give you a better tacticle sense of what your feet are doing, creating a better connection to the floor.

Second, simply being aware of the issue and mentally cueing yourself will go a long way. Many newer CrossFitters simply lack this awareness and aren’t quite sure how to fire some external rotators or activate their glutes. If you’re an experienced CrossFitter and your knees tend to cave in at heavier weights, be your own manager and take some weight off the bar if you can’t maintain good positions. In any case, make sure your set up is correct: your stance is the right width (for you), your feet are active and creating external rotation, and your belly is braced.

Finally, if you’re struggling with keeping your knees out because of mobility issues or muscle weakness, don’t hesitate to ask a coach to watch you Squat and suggest some accessory work. One possibility is the Banded Squat, which will “feed the weakness” and reinforce better positioning.

What cues would you like to see next? Let us know in the comments!

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Yesterday’s Results Board: Rest Day
Alex Parker Demos Strongman’s Fear CrossFit
The Enduring Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles Atlas Obscura