Video of the Week: Here’s a fun vid of Linda and Steve H. swimming with a whale shark! Steve reports, “We were snorkeling about 30 miles northeast of Isla Mujeres off of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Every year during July and August whale sharks congregate in large numbers to filter feed the water that is rich in bonito and snapper eggs in that area. First day we were there they estimated there were about 200-300 of them spaced out over a few square miles.”

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. Coach David raised a glass to Coach Noah, whose last class with us was Sunday. We miss you, buddy!

2. Jude G. told us about her experience at Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont, and we encouraged you to sign up for Coach Nick’s marathon row this Sunday.  There’s still time! Proceeds benefit Row New York, and you can donate here even if you can’t make it to the row.

3. Also happening this Sunday: we’ll be showing the final day of the CrossFit Games on our big screen at 597. After Anti-Gravity, around 3:00pm, we’ll start grilling and screening the Sunday events at the gym. All are welcome! The gym will have some beer but otherwise, BYOB.

4. New Starting Strength Program cycles are open! There are still spots left in a few classes.

5. The second-ever Iron Maidens Lift ‘n’ Learn Session will take place at CFSBK on Sunday, July 31st at 2:00pm. Get ready for some Bench Pressing followed by a clothing swap! Head over to the event page for more details.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Snatch | Pistols, DB Presses, C2B Pull-Ups
Ask a Swole Woman: Getting Started The Hairpin
The Slow Loris Is You at Happy Hour NY Mag

Snatch Complex

Fitness
Snatch Pull + Snatch:
5 x 1

Warm up to a medium-heavy load and perform 5 reps of the complex at that weight. No press outs, no misses.

Performance
Snatch Pull + Snatch:
Perform singles of the complex at: 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 80%, 85%, 90% (of best snatch)

Go up to 90% if it’s feeling good, and if you feel great, then move up. If you’re not feeling great today, then stay back around 80% and work there.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6 of 8

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4 RNFT:
8 Pistols or Box Pistols
8ea Single-Arm Dumbbell Presses
4-8 Strict C2B Pull-Ups

For the Box Pistols, start standing on a box and lower yourself to the bottom of a Pistol with your non-working leg trailing off to the side. Stand back up on the working leg if you can. If not then stand back up however you can. This version requires a little less flexibility. Go heavy on the Dumbbell Presses. Use bands or add weight as necessary on the Pull-Ups.

This Sunday: CrossFit Games BBQ!

This Sunday we’ll be showing the final day of the CrossFit Games on our big screen. After Anti-Gravity, around 3:00pm, we’ll start grilling and screening the Sunday events at the gym. All are welcome! The gym will have some beer but otherwise, BYOB.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Front Squat | Row, Squats, Sit-Ups
One Sport May Be Too Much The Way
Why Weightlifting Is Good for Kids BarBend

Front Squat

Fitness
3 x 5 Linear Progression

Add 5-10 lbs to last week’s weight.

Performance
3 x 4

Heavier than last week

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6 of 8
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For time:
50 Calorie Row buy-in, then..
40-30-20-10
Squats
Sit-Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Jude G. practicing her sculling technique

CFSBK at Craftsbury Sculling Center

Editor’s Note: Two weeks ago, Coach Nick, Mark M., and Jude G. participated in a four-day intensive sculling camp at Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont. Today we’re very excited to bring you Jude’s report on the experience. Thanks, Jude!

Last week I had the chance to spend several days at Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont.  It was an incredible experience, and I’m looking forward to returning next summer.

We spent our days in a spectacular setting, rowing several times each day on a gorgeous New England lake. Between sessions on the water, there was time to hang out and have a great time with rowers who were visiting from all over the country. It was a fantastic week and the return to the erg has been difficult (actually the return from rural New England has been really difficult).

I’ve participated in Nick’s program for CRASH-B’s twice and have competed in Boston with the CFSBK team. The physical challenge and camaraderie of the CFSBK group is terrific, and I’ll continue to enroll and complain about the workouts. However, getting the opportunity to take the skills I’ve learned from training with Nick to get off the erg and into a scull at Craftsbury was simply one of the best experiences and what I hope will be a life-long pursuit of learning to scull.

CFSBK is an incredible community, which has been noted by lots of people that have had the chance to spend years or even just a class at the gym.  Although I am grateful for the opportunity to have a place that continues to challenge me physically, I am especially thankful for the adventures beyond Degraw Street that have been presented, and I hope to see more CFSBK friends at Craftsbury next year.

Marathon Row!

• Single Scull: You do the whole marathon yourself
• Double Sculls: You and one partner divvy up the marathon however you want; you could each do one 21,098m block, or do multiple shorter pieces
• Quadruple Sculls: You and three other people divvy up the marathon however you want – you could each row one 10,549m block, or do multiple shorter pieces

The enrollment fee is $60 per person. We will donate half the fee – and anything else you can raise – to Row New York, which teaches competitive rowing to kids in under-resourced communities. Head over to the Crowdrise page to start raising money!

Sign up here now – space is limited!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
City Pools Are Cleaner Than You’d Think NY Post
A New Generation of Middle Eastern Women Chases Olympic Glory Washington Post

Manny B. pulls a Deadlift at Sunday’s Starting Strength Program Total

Register Now For Starting Strength Program

We all want to get stronger. That’s because we implicitly understand that building strength is the foundation for increasing overall physical capacity. It has been proven again and again that lifting heavy primes our bodies to be more effective and efficient at metabolic conditioning workouts. Strength is the only mode of training that supports everything else we do in the gym and in life. Plus: it’s pretty badass. 

Upcoming Program Times and Dates:
A cycle: Novice, 7pm Mon/Wed and 6pm Fri | Monday July 25th – Friday September 8th
B cycle: Intermediate, 7pm Tues/Thurs and 10am Sun | Tuesday July 26th – Sunday September 18th
C cycle: Morning Novice, 6:30am Mon/Wed | Monday July 25th – Wednesday September 14th
D cycle: Continuing Education, 6pm Mon/Wed | Monday July 25th – Wednesday September 14th
E cycle: Late morning, all levels, 10am Mon/Thurs, co-taught by Coach Margie | Monday July 25th – Thursday September 15th

Each cycle will culminate in a CrossFit Total on Sunday, September 18th.

Class Sizes: Space is limited to 4-8 participants
Class Length: 90 minutes 

Cost: 3x Per Week Cycles:
$300 paid upon registration and then another $300 at the halfway point
Cost: 2xW Cycles:
$200 paid upon registration and then another $200 at the halfway point 

Group Class/Open Gym/Active Recovery/Yoga/Pilates Add-On Option!
This add-on membership allows our 2x/week Starting Strength Program to attend two additional classes per week, outside of the regularly scheduled strength cycle classes. This includes group classes, open gym, and Active Recovery/Yoga/Pilates. 

Price is $100 per four weeks, first bill due at sign-up and second bill ($100) charged automatically to the card on-file four weeks later. Register here!

If anyone is confused as to which cycle they belong in or has any questions, they can contact Jeremy directly at Jeremy [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com to discuss placement.

News and Notes

• This Sunday we’ll be showing the final day of the CrossFit Games on our big screen. After Anti-Gravity, around 3:00pm, we’ll start grilling and screening the Sunday events at the gym. All are welcome! The gym will have some beer but otherwise, BYOB.
• Time is running out to sign up for Coach Nick’s marathon row this Sunday the 24th! It’ll be tough, but well worth it! (Don’t you want to be able to impress your marathon-running friends?) Go here for more info.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Bench Press / Bent-Over Row | Wall Balls, Double-Unders, Muscle-Ups
The Olympic Weightlifting Squat Catalyst Athletics
Mind Games CrossFit

Bench Press / Bent-Over Row Superset*

1A) Barbell Bench Press

Fitness
3 x 5 Linear Progression

Add a few pounds to last week’s weight.

Performance
3 x 8

Go heavier than last week’s 10s.

1B) Barbell Bent-Over Row

Fitness
3 x 5 Linear Progression

Add a few pounds to last week’s weight.

Performance
3 x 8

Go heavier than last week’s 10s.

In both cases, keep these light enough to perform strictly and with solid form. Don’t let these turn into an ego exercise. Really think about the movement rather than the weight moved. Keep the following notes in mind:

1) Set up like a Clean and Deadlift the bar up.
2) Hip hinge until bar is at least below the knee (try to be as horizontal as possible).
3) Maintaining a consistent back angle, pull your elbows up and back and aim to hit your stomach (not your chest) with the barbell.
4) Start with a weight that allows all the reps to be done perfect and without momentum. It should feel too light to start.

*Superset means that you perform a set of exercise A (in this case the Bench Press) and then after a short rest, 30 seconds to a minute, you perform a set of exercise B (in this case the Barbell Bent-Over Row). You then rest a short period before returning to exercise A and continue in this fashion until all warm up and work sets are completed.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6 of 8

__________________

For Time (10 min cap):
50 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
30 Double-Unders
10 Ring Muscle-Ups

Sub 15 attempts or 90 Singles for the Double-Unders as appropriate. Sub Jumping Muscle-Ups or perform 10 low-ring leg-assisted transitions.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Coming in at a combined weight of 350lbs… hailing from Spikeville, USA… Noahpologies and El Capitan are…… THE JABRONIS!!!

A Toast to Coach Noah!

Here’s to Noah!

News and Notes 

• The second-ever Iron Maidens Lift ‘n’ Learn Session will take place at CFSBK on Sunday, July 31st at 2:00pm. Get ready for some Bench Pressing followed by a clothing swap! Head over to the event page for more details.
• Time is running out to sign up for Coach Nick’s marathon row this Sunday the 24th! It’ll be tough, but don’t you want to be able to impress your marathon-running friends? Go here for more info.

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Noah and Nathan E. on the New Yorker Radio Hour WNYC
Via Activa Paris Review
Sleep Easy Pure Pharma

Halted Clean + Mid-Hang Clean + Power Jerk

1-1-1-1-1

Work up to a heavy load on the complex. Pause for 3 seconds at the Mid-Hang, then move directly into the Clean. Your weight should still be balanced slightly towards the heel at the Mid-Hang.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8

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“Helen”

3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings 24/16kg
12 Pull-Ups

This classic CrossFit triplet is done unbroken on the fast end. The swings are Rx’d as overhead. Scale to Jumping Pull-Ups as necessary.

Post time and Rx to comments.

 Sean G. gets ready to Squat | Photo by Thomas H. 

• Today’s 2:00pm Anti-Gravity class is Coach Noah’s last class. Come over to the gym and give him as proper send-off!
• There’s still time to sign up for Coach Nick’s marathon row next Sunday the 24th. Go here for more info. 

Today! The Starting Strength Program Total

Coach Jeremy’s and Coach Margie’s Strength Cyclers will wrap up their eight-week cycle today 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!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Back Squat | Burpees, Double-Unders
Man With Cerebal Palsy Defies Odds Through CrossFit KFSM
A Study on Fats that Doesn’t Fit the Storyline NY Times

Back Squat

Fitness
3 x 5 Linear Progression

Performance
3 x 4

Heavier than last week’s 6s.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8.

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Every other minute on the minute for 5 rounds each:
1) Max Burpees
2) Max Double-Unders

At the call of “3, 2, 1, GO,” perform as many Burpees as possible in 1 minute, followed by 1 minute of rest. At the 2 minute mark, perform as many Double-Unders as possible in 1 minute, followed by another minute of rest. Repeat for 5 rounds each.

Post reps for each round to comments.

Exemplary Spikeballing form demonstrated by Coach David and photographed by Thomas H.

Today at 4:00pm: Spikeball Tournament!

An afternoon of friendly Spikeball competition. Haven’t played before? Don’t worry! It’s pretty simple, and the video above explains everything. All are invited, and it’s not too late to participate! Please let us know in the comments section of the event page if you plan to compete. Teams (of two) can declare beforehand, or we’ll pair you up the day of the tournament. The top three winning teams go on the leaderboard until the next tournament!

When?
Today at 4:00pm. We’ll start with about 30 minutes of practice and organization. The tournament proper will begin at 4:30, but please be at 597 by 4:00 so we know how many people are participating.

Head on over to the event page to let us know you’ll be there today and to see some videos

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Katrin Davidsdottir: My Never-Ending Journey Gameplan A

“Yes, we do carry these very heavy objects wherever we go.” | Photo by Thomas H.

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. It’s been an emotional week at the gym as we say our goodbyes to Coach Noah. Here’s his farewell letter. We’ll miss you, dude!

2. Noah and Coach Ro answered some questions about the Anti-Gravity class they created and have been coaching for the past year. Spoiler alert: Ro is taking over Noah’s Sunday AG class as of next weekend!

3. CFSBK is hosting its first-ever (unsanctioned—punk rock forever!) Spikeball tournament tomorrow at 4:00pm. Go to the event page for more details and to sign up. 

4. CFSBK put on a strong showing at the Crow Hill Open 2016: Coach JB qualified for the American Open with a 71kg Clean and Jerk and a 51kg Snatch. Coach Katie went 5 for 6 and took first in her weight class. Coach Lady Fox took 2nd place in the Masters division with a 126kg total (!), and Amanda Mc went 3 for 6 in her first meet and PRed her Clean! Over on the men’s side, Coach Fox went 6 for 6 with an 87kg Snatch and a 115kg Clean and Jerk. Coach McDowell went 5 for 6 with a 108kg Snatch and a top Clean and Jerk of 125kg. Finally, Alex B. hit a 103kg Snatch and a 130kg Clean and Jerk. Congrats, guys! We’re so proud of you!

5. Coach Nick is organizing a marathon row on July 24th. Sign up here! Space is limited. If you’ve never been hollered at (lovingly) by an Olympic rower, now’s your chance!

__________________
Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Snatch | Run, Squats, Toes-to-Bars
NASA Has Discovered a Massive Hole in the Sun Atlas Obscura
Double-Under Drill for Beginners WODprep

Snatch

Halting Snatch Deadlift (to the Mid-Hang) + Mid-Hang Snatch:
1-1-1-1-1

Start light and spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy load on the complex. Pause for a 3 count at the Mid-Hang and then move directly into the Snatch. If you’re newer to the lifts, then you can complete the Deadlift and reset to the Mid-Hang for the Snatch.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8

__________________

3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
30 Squats
20 Toes-to-Bars

Sub Hanging Leg or Knee Raises for Toes-to-Bars as needed.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Coach Noah gives David G. some tips. Bon voyage, Noah! You will be missed!

A Fond Farewell from Coach Noah 

By Noah Abbott

This Sunday will be my last class as a coach at CrossFit South Brooklyn before I head to LA for the CrossFit Games, where I will be helping with some media projects being put together by Beyond The Whiteboard. (A good bit of this content is for subscribers, so if you want to check it out sign up!  It’s also the best WOD tracking service out there AND is CFSBKer owned and operated.) I’ll be back in NY briefly near the end of the month before moving to Austin, but imagine I will be quite busy packing, nervous eating, and crying.

It’s been about 6 years since I started as a member at CFSBK. I joined after finding CrossFit during a government deployment to Phoenix, and in the spring of 2010 joined the gym as a newb CrossFitter with decent aerobic capacity, little strength or technique, and questionable fashion sense. At some point David realized it was hopeless to try to keep me from talking all the time, and he decided to direct my enthusiasm towards talking specifically (most of the time) about CrossFit. I started training as a coach alongside Jess Fox that summer, and despite a penchant for coming to coaching training after a too-late night, I quickly realized how much I loved the gym and my new place in it as a coach.

I was working for the government full-time back then. I had worked hard to get the job because I wanted to help people, to make them safer in a scary world, and to pay back into my larger community for an upbringing that was undeniably privileged. I had also watched Point Break a lot, the importance of which should not go unnoted. Over time I began to realize that my government job would never involve infiltrating a gang of surfer/skydiver/bank robbers, and often left me feeling like I wasn’t helping anyone and only perpetuating cycles of misunderstanding and questionable decision making.

I was incredibly fortunate to stumble bass-ackwards into a part-time job that turned into a career that will now turn into a business venture, that all along has delivered what I thought I wanted from my government job. As the lens I see the world has matured, I’ve realized that every day as a coach I get to make people safer, stronger, and more resilient from things much more likely to harm them than abstract spectre of terrorism, such as chronic disease, decrepitude, and injury. I get to see the results of my work every day when people learn new skills, set PRs, get off their meds, rehabilitate, and recover. Further, I’ve spent six years giving to and being nourished by a vibrant, compelling, diverse, and loving community, a relationship more powerful than I could ever have dreamed.

Our community has a few big pieces that I’d like to acknowledge. First, I will forever be indebted to El Capitan David Osorio who saw something in a subpar CrossFitter with a big mouth. I imagine I will always be playing catch-up trying to emulate his ability to be genuine, careful with words and action, creative, visionary, and generally the glue that holds the ship together. He and Christian Michael Thomas Fox (and Shane Williams) were instrumental in teaching me the craft of coaching, which in many ways for me has been a lesson about life. They taught me to think before I speak and to strive for an economy of language (I know, I’m still working on it.) They taught me that your attention and care must stretch to every corner of the room and that nobody deserves to live outside the walls of your compassion. They taught me that in an hour you can warm up, learn about your neighbors, lift heavy things, do things you never dreamed you could, and laugh all the while. Thanks David and Chris for teaching me, and continuing to teach me.

One of the reasons I’m convinced this is the best job in the world is that your colleagues quickly become your best friends. In rough order of vintage, David, Chris, Shane, Jeremy, Margie, Laurel, Nick, Jess, McDowell, Melissa, Josh, Arturo, Whitney, Katie, and JB have all been sources of inspiration, camaraderie, levity, honesty, and patience. I’ve been so lucky to learn alongside them, to hang with them after we roll the gate down, and doubly lucky that they only occasionally eye-roll me when I dance, make hackneyed literary allusions, or sandbag a workout. I hope I can take a little bit of each of their skills, eccentricities, and passion with me and share them with a new crop of people.

Those new people will have to work insanely hard to compete with the members that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of coaching and befriending at CFSBK. Living in a city that is often celebrated for overworking its inhabitants, siphoning their precious time as they wait for the subway, emptying their wallets, and slowly turning them into the type of people that curse at slow walking tourists, the people at CFSBK are a daily refutation that New York City eats its young. Every day you guys whittle time from your already packed schedule, make the trip from near and far, and commit yourself to an experiment about what a culture of people committed to personal enrichment can look like. You do things that are inherently frightening, challenging to normative ideals of beauty, gender, health, and lifestyle, and are simply put, badass. You do it with a smile, with grace, with determination, with white-hot intensity, and its damned inspiring. You pay me to tell you how to better do things that are uncomfortable and often frustrating, and you thank me for it when you peel yourself off the floor. More than anything, I want to thank you, the members of CFSBK- you make my job easy, because coaching is about caring, and you guys are all incredibly easy to care deeply about.

If you think you’ve gotten rid of me, please think again. This is simply a fare-thee-well for now, and I fully expect to spend lots of time in NYC going forward. If any of you come to Austin and don’t drop in and say hi I will curse your names, build a simulacrum in your likeness, and make your voodoo effigy do thrusters until your arms and legs fall off.

My last class at CFSBK will be Anti-Gravity, this Sunday at 2:00pm. Afterwards I will be heading to Pig Beach on Union Street to eat, drink, and of course of course of course talk loudly and laugh loudly-er. I hope every single one of you joins me.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Front Squat | NFT Work
Who Invented the Internet? Kurzgetagt
Anna Tunnicliffe: From Olympic Gold Medalist to the CrossFit Games Fitness HQ

Front Squat

Fitness
3 x 5 Linear Progression

Add 5-10 lbs to last week’s weight.

Performance
3 x 4

Heavier than last week’s 6s.

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 5 of 8
__________________

4 RNFT (or 20 Minutes):
6ea Front Rack Reverse Lunges
5-10 Strict Handstand Push-Ups or 10 Dumbbell Presses, AHAP
20 Strokes on the Erg for Max Calories

Lunge bar comes off the floor. Start at about 50% of your Front Squat weight and work up as appropriate. 1 or 2 AbMats is acceptable for the Handstand Push-Ups. Otherwise, perform the Dumbbell Presses as heavy as possible.

Post work to comments.

Are you ready for some Spikeball?!?! | Photo by Thomas H.

This Saturday, July 16th: Spikeball Tournament!

An afternoon of friendly Spikeball competition. Haven’t played before? Don’t worry! It’s pretty simple, and the video above explains everything. All are invited! Please let us know in the comments section of the event page if you plan to compete. Teams (of two) can declare beforehand, or we’ll pair you up the day of the tournament. The top three winning teams go on the leaderboard until the next tournament!

When?
Saturday, July 16th at 4:00pm. We’ll start with about 30 minutes of practice and organization. The tournament proper will begin at 4:30, but please be at 597 by 4:00 so we know how many people are participating.

Head on over to the event page to sign up and see some videos

_____________________
Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Talking with Your Hands Makes You Learn Things Faster NY Mag
5 Reasons You Should Eat More Fiber Pure Pharma