FRAN!

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link 1 CrossFit

link 2

Front Squat

Performance
1-1-1-1-1

Work up to a heavy single.

Fitness
3-3-3-3-3

Work up to a heavy triple.

Post loads to comments.

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Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Capacity Test

AMRAP 10 Minutes:
5 Pull-Ups
10 Push-Ups
15 Squats

Rest 2 minutes, then…

3 minutes max calories rowed

Score rounds and reps + calories rowed.

Merbear Wall Ballin’ it during 17.4 at Friday Night Lights. Come out this Friday at 7pm for the 5th and final FNL event of the year!

“No, you take the medicine ball!” Lots of great photos from the recent Squad WOD event at CFSBK can be found here | Photo courtesy of Heidi Jones

Friday Night Lights: The Gauntlet

This Friday evening, we’ll once again host a battle of CFSBK’s best during a Gauntlet-Style Friday Night Lights event. There will be two heats, 7:00pm and 7:30pm during which 2 designated competitors from each of our intramural teams will throw down against each other in an epic battle of strength and conditioning.

This will be our 5th and final FNL event. If you haven’t been to one yet, you’re missing out! Here are some photos from 17.3 and 17.4. Spectators are encouraged to stop by CFSBK on Friday evening to support your teammates and cheers their successes (BYOB)! 

Team Captains!
Please designate one male and one female competitor to represent your team at The Gauntlet. Email cfsbk.intramural.league [at] gmail.com by FRIDAY, MARCH 10th at 12pm with your selected competitor’s names and prefered heat time (7pm or 7:30pm).

Also, we need judges! If you are interested in volunteering to judge one of our FNL heats, please email cfsbk.intramural.league [at] gmail.com and indicate which heat 7:00pm, 7:30pm (or both) that you are available to judge.

News and Notes

• Open Intramural Team captains: Please submit your team’s scores to the spreadsheet by noon today!
• We are now offering another Diapers & Dumbbells class on Fridays at 11am! See the program page for more details.
• Our latest lost and found dump can be found on our Flickr account. We’re now including abandoned water bottles in the photo, so please take a look and see if any look familiar! Water bottles will now be given out after a week. All other items must be claimed within a month, after which we’ll donate them to CHIPS. Come get your stuff, gang!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Press | KB Swings, Double-Unders
Fueling for CrossFit Competition 101 CrossFit NYC
Earth Is A Prison Kurzgesagt

Press

Performance
1-1-1-1-1

Build to a heavy single.

Fitness
5-5-5-3-3

Build to a heavy triple.

Post loads to comments.

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5 Rounds for Time:
30 Russian Kettlebell Swings 24/16kg
50 Double-Unders

Scale the Double-Unders to 50 Singles or 20 attempts as needed.

Post time and Rx to comments.

March Athlete of the Month: Mo Acosta

By Chris Fox

Next up in our Athlete of the Month series is a class act—perpetually smiling, relentlessly cheerful, and an all-around great member: Mo Acosta. He’s made an impression on the coaching staff with his consistency, coachability, and dedication for a while now, so we figured we should name him AOM before he takes his leave of absence this summer!

Fox: Mo! Congrats! You’ve been on the radar for awhile now so I’m glad we’re sitting down for this. Tell me when and how you started CrossFit. 

Mo: Thanks so much. I feel like I should call my mom and tell her! I probably started in 2011 when I was a member of NYSC. I was taking their “CrossFit” class (called UFX for Ultimate Fitness Experience) and was really digging the intensity. My friend Jessica was a coach at CrossFit Merrick in Long Island and told me about it. I started at CrossFit Class One, and when they suddenly closed their CrossFit program, Google led me to CFSBK. 

Fox: What about CrossFit appealed to you?

Mo: It seemed like an exercise program tailor-written for me. I don’t have to think, just show up and follow the program. I liked that we were shown the movements and the specific points about them. Before coming here, I thought I could lift weights. I realized I had a lot to learn!

Fox: What did you have trouble with? And what are you working on now?

Mo: Well I thought I knew how to do everything, so I had trouble with it all! Even something as basic as the  Back Squat gave me trouble. Snatches were new to me and are always a work in progress. I’m still working on that elusive Ring Muscle-Up, though, I have finally gotten a few Bar Muscle-Ups! My body composition goals have also shifted and now I’m actually trying to put some size on instead of losing it. To that end, I did 10 sessions with Coach Brett and have been working on the things he gave me, adding weight to the movements as appropriate.

Fox: What were your impressions of CFSBK, especially having come from another gym? Why did you stay?

Mo: First of all, classes started on time. Even the 6am! I can tell you that this is not the usual case at many gyms. I recognized that the programming was organized, and the coaching was on a different level. The trainers at my previous gym were all nice and I definitely learned stuff, but it’s another experience here. I’ve travelled to other affiliates around the world and haven’t found anything like it. Lifting progressions also seem to be missing from many gyms.

Fox: It’s always great to hear that CFSBK stands out in those ways. Let’s get away from fitness for a minute. We’ve spoken about where you grew up and how you dislike a certain TV show…

Mo: Ha! I was born and grew up in Medellín, Colombia in the 1980s. It was a rough town back then but now is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s surrounded by giant lush mountains, and is one of the largest flower exporters in the world so the landscape is just amazing. As kids we knew there was violence, but it luckily didn’t plague us. I grew up playing soccer in the streets there in the same field at the National Team practiced. My family came to the US in 1990, first my grandparents and then my mom, my sister, and I. We lived in Carle Place in Nassau County, Long Island, which was quite a shift. I’m pretty sure there was one other kid that spoke Spanish other than my sister Natalia and I.

Fox: Did you continue to play soccer once you got here?

Mo: No soccer but the tennis coach of my high school recruited me. Turned out I was awful at it, so he suggested I try out for football! I did and played guard during my time there. I’m still friends with the guys on my team.

Fox: No college ball? Where did you go to school and what do you do now?

Mo: Ha… no, no college ball. I first went to SUNY-New Paltz for a day. Let’s just leave it at “I was a mess.” I got myself together and went to NCC (Nassau Community College) before going to NYIT (New York Institute of Technology) for Advertising and Marketing. I somehow lucked into my first job with the New York Islanders while still in school and then worked for Colgate-Palmolive for a few years, during which time I met Kat. In 2005 when Colgate-Palmolive was getting rid of my department, I decided it was time to open my own business. Kat and I have been running Acosta Design since then. It’s pretty amazing to spend my work day with the love of my life and our pittie mix, Lillan (Swedish for “Little One”).

Fox: That’s great, and I can relate! How did you and Kat meet?

Mo: A friend at work suggested we should meet, but it was the summer time! Plus, she lived in Brooklyn and I was in Great Neck! All I knew of Brooklyn was what was on the news and I was not really into that. Turned out she lived in Brooklyn Heights and it was more “Huxtables” than “NYPD Blue”. It all happened pretty quickly once we first dated. We fell in love, moved in together, got married in 2008, and moved to Park Slope in 2009.

Fox: Tell us about you outside of the gym and work. What are your hobbies?

Mo: Well, I love the gym and it really is my main hobby. And I love my work and am always working on new company ideas. Other than that, I love to travel and eat. I cook at home and also like to eat out and explore new restaurants. Katsui has been a recent great find! Last year’s LFPB Challenge was amazingly influential on how we eat both at home and out and it’s something that has become part of who I am. Also, we’re moving to Sweden for a year or two (maybe the next four?) to spend some time with Kat’s parents, and I’ve been taking Swedish lessons to prepare.

Fox: Thanks again for sitting down with me and letting us learn a bit about you. Last question, what should we look for in a future AOM?

Mo: Man, there are so many dedicated people working their asses off to pick from. It must be hard. I think listening and being coachable are important in addition to helping others when you can. Whether it’s helping clean up equipment, cheering people on, or just saying thank you. I think those things go a long way.

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Chuck Berry Lives! The New Yorker
The Highest Court of the Land Atlas Obscura

Power Clean + Push Jerk

In 10 Minutes, work up to a heavy Power Clean + Push Jerk.

Post loads to comments.

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Partner WOD 

In teams of 2, with one partner working at a time, alternate full rounds to complete…

10 Rounds for Time (5ea):
7 Burpees
7 Power Cleans 95/65
7 Push Jerks
7 Pull-Ups

Scale the Pull-Ups to Jumping Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups as needed. The barbell movements should be light and unbroken. Scale accordingly.

Post time, Rx, and partner to comments.

Robert C. captured the essence of 17.4

TODAY: Look, Feel, Perform Better Info Session and Q&A

The final Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Info Session and Q&A is today at 12:00pm in the Annex. All participants, no matter where you’re at with successes and failures of the challenge, are invited to attend the final meeting of this year’s Challenge. We’ll talk briefly about what to do after 12 weeks of dieting and what to do next, followed by an open Q&A. We hope to see as many of this year’s LFPBers as possible!

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Pressure Doesn’t Have to Turn Into Stress Harvard Business Review
Proud of What Your Body Can Do CrossFit

Open Workout 17.4

AMRAP 13 Minutes:
55 Deadlifts
55 Wall Balls
55 Calorie Row
55 Handstand Push-Ups

Men’s Rx: Deadlift 225 lb. and throw 20-lb. ball to 10-ft. target
Women’s Rx: Deadlift 155 lb. and throw 14-lb. ball to 9-ft. target

Men’s Scaled: Deadlift 135 lb., throw 20-lb. ball to 9-ft. target, and perform Hand-Release Push-Ups
Women’s Scaled: Eeadlift 95 lb., throw 10-lb. ball to 9-ft. target, and perform Hand-Release Push-Ups

Be sure to review the movement standards, especially for the HSPUs and Hand-Release Push-Ups. Remember to record all tiebreaker times.

Andre L. enters the 17.4 pain cave at last night’s Friday Night Lights event

Tips for Open Workout 17.4

By David Osorio

Deadlifts
Before we talk about strategy, it’s important to mention that maintaining a neutral back position should be your #1 priority. The Open IS a competition, but if you’re reading this, you’re probably not going to Regionals, so take a chill pill and train smart. If the Rx’d loads (225/155) are simply out of your wheelhouse, then hit up the scaled version (135/95), which is going to be far more of a suckfest because you’ll get much farther in the workout AND you won’t feel like shit afterwards.

If you can maintain a good back position at the Rx’d weight but 55 reps at that load is going to be really challenging to get through, you’ll have to consider what you want to get out of this workout. The workout is a 13:00 AMRAP and that should be PLENTY of time to get to the erg for most folks. If you’re not sure you can make it out of or far beyond the Deadlifts, I would strongly consider the scaled option. Be realistic. As always, “know thyself.”

For the Deadlifts, I recommend 4-8 sub-max sets, ideally with a decreasing rep scheme. Below are a few options to consider, but you should write a plan that makes sense for you. And have a back-up plan in case you get “punched in the face” by this workout.

4 Sets: 20-15-10-10
5 Sets: 12-12-11-10-10
6 Sets: 14-12-10-8-6-5
The “Everything is Fine” Plan: 5 x 11

Often people are going to have to end with smaller sets than they anticipated, so don’t be surprised if your 2 sets of 10 become 4 sets of 5. Regardless, keep every set sub-maximal so you don’t blow up and end up needing to take huge rests. On a related note, with high-rep workouts like this, there are going to be lots of breaks in your sets, so stay on task and focus on either how many breaths you take or how many seconds have passed. A rest period is NOT a time to “tune out.” It’s a shift where you begin to bias intentional deep breathing and a producive internal dialogue, really whatever makes you feel like you’re in control of the workout and not the other way around. Perhaps you take 5-8 breaths or :10 of rest between each set.

Wall Balls
The rep pacing for the Deadlifts also applies to the Wall Balls. Keep your sets sub-maximal and manage your rest periods. As someone who really hates Wall Balls but has gotten considerably better at them, I recommend  focusing on consistency and breathing. Every single rep should feel similar to the last one both in how your squat is organized. Minimize spin on the ball and use your arms enough to accelerate the ball over the line. If the ball is spinning all over the place, if your feet are shuffling around, or if each rep feels a little different, you’re going to have a much harder time finding a groove with this movement.

Because there’s a throw and a catch, the variance in forces you’re dealing with are greater than those of most other CrossFit exercises. Try to find your rhythm and tune into whats happening. Perhaps even more importantly: BREATH! The WHOLE time. A lot of people tend to hold their breath at least partially as they brace  to catch the ball or accellerate up to throw it. This makes you feel a little more stable but its going to catch up to you FAST.

Rowing
You’re going to walk over to that erg like a wounded animal, so (assuming you have time) I recommend getting on and starting to row at what feels like a 70% intensity pace, then gradually building up to 80% or so. If you’re not used to thinking about calories per hour, This link will help you match 500m splits to the corresponding calorie output.

Again, make sure you’re breathing. At this point in the workout, you really need to be aware of the clock. If you’ve got 1:00 left, you’re going to have to make this the worst minute of your life. I like to tell myself, “Well I can hold my breath for over 2:00, so I can certainly ‘feel’ like I’m drowning for a minute. Remember, tie break times matter in this workout, so if you don’t have Handstand Push-Ups, this is where your workout ends.

Handstand Push-Ups
Congratulations! You made it to the HSPUs. You’re so elite! This is gonna be crunch time so you need to be aggressive but stay composed. It’s not uncommon to feel a little punch drunk coming off the erg, so take a quick moment to organize yourself and shift your focus to the new movement while being aware of how much time you’ve got left. With the Open standards for HSPUs, LOTS of people are giving way silly no-reps because they’re not taking the time to properly set up each rep. Pointing your toes “down” toward your face will elevate your heels and give you less potential for getting no-repped. You might even ask your judge to say “ok” when your heels are above the line before your first rep.

How you approach the reps is going to be completly based on how strong you are at this movement, but you need to start chopping away and taking the shortest rest periods you need. If you start missing reps, BACK off and take a breath. Don’t kick up to that wall unless you’re 100% confident you’ll hit at least 1-2 reps.

Oh and have fun! Remember, it’s ONLY 13:00. HOW BAD COULD IT BE?

How did 17.4 go for you? Tell us in the comments!

News and Notes

• SCHEDULE CHANGE: Strong Fit has been moved to Sundays at 8am for the duration of the Open.
• The final Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Info Session and Q&A is tomorrow at 12:00pm in the Annex. All participants, no matter where you’re at with successes and failures of the challenge, are invited to attend the final meeting of this year’s Challenge. We’ll talk briefly about what to do after 12 weeks of dieting and what to do next, followed by an open Q&A.

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What Comes After Tinder? NY Mag
Open Workout 17.4 Movement Standards CrossFit

Come out to the gym at 7pm tonight, when we’ll be hosting a battle of CFSBK’s best during a Gauntlet-Style Friday Night Lights event. There will be two heats, 7:00pm and 7:30pm, during which 2 designated competitors from each of our intramural teams will throw down against each other in an epic battle of strength and conditioning | Photo by Thomas H.

1. On Monday, we announced the new Crossover Symmetry & Healthy Shoulders clinic with Coach Whit. It’s already sold out, but stay tuned to the blog for future clinics and other special class offerings.

2. We are now offering another Diapers & Dumbbells class on Fridays at 11am! See the program page for more details.

3. Pierre D. kicked some ass at the the USA Weightlifting National Masters competition. He hit a 90kg Snatch and a 111kg Clean and Jerk for a total of 201kgs, which is a PR. Congrats, Pierre!

4. As the Open rolls into 17.4, we brought you the gym’s top-5 ranked women and men on Wednesday. Go here to see the entire affiliate leaderboard!

5. Yesterday we recapped Week 3 of the CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition. Some key terms: PEDs, PEZ, Alternative Math, Alternative Reps, bars, Bonds, and spreadsheets. Read the whole recap to find out what it all means!

6. SCHEDULE CHANGE: Strong Fit has been moved to Sundays at 8am for the duration of the Open.

7. The final Look, Feel, Perform Better Challenge Info Session and Q&A is this Sunday, March 19th at 12:00pm in the Annex. All participants, no matter where you’re at with successes and failures of the challenge, are invited to attend the final meeting of this year’s Challenge. We’ll talk briefly about what to do after 12 weeks of dieting and what to do next, followed by an open Q&A. 

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Tabata Mash-Up | Power Snatch
Breaking the Two-Hour Marathon Barrier NY Times
What Should I Eat Before an Open Workout? BarBend

Tabata Mash-Up

Burpees
Handstand Holds

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Power Snatch

Every 2 minutes for 10 sets:
3 Touch-and-Go Power Snatches

Start light and build to something heavy-ish but perfect for the day.

Post loads to comments.

Don’t mess with Jill C. or the rest of WHAMRAP!

Open Intramural Team Scores
CFSBK Affiliate Leaderboard

Friday Nights: THE GAUNTLET

Tomorrow night we’ll be hosting a battle of CFSBK’s best during a Gauntlet-Style Friday Night Lights event. There will be two heats, 7:00pm and 7:30pm, during which 2 designated competitors from each of our intramural teams will throw down against each other in an epic battle of strength and conditioning. Come for Open Gym, stay for THE GAUNTLET.

Don’t forget that we’ll be showing the announcement of Open Workout 17.4 tonight around 8. Come early or stay late to watch it with us on the big screen!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Interview with Marcelo Bruno, 4th Place Worldwide after 17.3 The Barbell Spin
This Workout May Help Reverse the Aging Process NY Mag

Paused Back Squat / Paused Front Squat

Paused Back Squat:
5-5-5

Paused Front Squat:
3-3-3

Pause 2 seconds in the hole before ascending. No bounce. Work up to a challenging but not max-effort set. No failing.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 4 of 8

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Performance
Every 5 minutes for 5 rounds:
30 Double-Unders
15 Toes-to-Bars
5 Hang Cleans 185/125

The barbell load should be medium-heavy and unbroken on the fast end.

Fitness
Every 5 minutes for 5 rounds:
30 Single-Unders
15 Hanging Knee Raises
5 Hang Cleans

The barbell load should be medium-heavy and unbroken on the fast end. Scale to Hang Power Cleans as needed based on mobility.

Post work to comments.

Here’s Pierre D. killing at at the USA Weightlifting National Masters competition. Pierre hit a 90kg Snatch and a 111kg Clean and Jerk for a total of 201kgs, which is a PR. Congrats, Pierre!

CFSBK Individual Open Leaderboard

We’ll have the Open Intramural recap tomorrow. For now, here’s the individual leaderboard after 17.3!