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Rack Jerk | WOD 3.28.16

Posted on Monday, March 28, 2016

Rack Jerk

1-1-1-1-1

Work up to a heavy single for the day.

Post loads to comments.

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5 RNFT or 20 Minutes:
5ea Split Squats (add weight with dumbbells as appropriate)
5 Ring or Bar Ice Cream Makers
270m Run

Post work to comments.  

Underneath the Hoodie: Whitney Hubbard

Vital Stats
Height
: 5’5’’
Weight
: 135 lbs
DOB
: June 2, 1986
Born and raised
: Born in Mississauga, Ontario, raised in Lake Forest, Illinois
Place of higher learning
: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

By Kate Reece

Whitney Marie Hubbard has always needed to be moving. Not through states, though she has done that, but with her body. Over the years, that’s looked like dancing ballet at Miss Jenny’s studio in the suburbs of Chicago; flowing through sun salutations and breathing deeply in her decade-long yoga practice; rolling around on the floor during modern dance class warm-ups in college; and learning to gracefully heave a barbell over her head at CrossFit South Brooklyn, back in the days of the high-ceilinged, bare-bone concrete of The Lyceum. Whitney’s language is movement, and despite her bones literally being stacked against her, she speaks beautifully.*

Whitney was born on June 2, 1986 in Mississauga, a large city on Lake Ontario, next to Toronto. She spent the first five years of her life there before her father’s job as a financial executive moved them to Lake Forest, a small suburban city on the North Shore of Chicago, abundantly dotted with ponds and creeks and green grass. After a trip to Canada, she remembers coming home to Lake Forest and on one of those old-school radios built into the wall of her family’s new kitchen, Neil Diamond’s 1980 hit “Coming to America” was playing.

She began dancing when she was three, which mostly looked like romping around a room and tossing her hands theatrically in the air. When she found a song she liked (think Minnie Mouse cassette tapes), she would rewind the song repeatedly and choreograph routines to it. Her strongest memories of this are in her maternal grandmother Nana’s house. A wooded backyard extended far behind the house, which they called the Uppy Uppy Yongo because when you yelled that out, it would echo. After she choreographed the perfect dance, Whitney would assemble her family around to watch her perform. Not a naturally extroverted or outgoing kid by any means, this was where she shined—dancing was where she came alive. She took up ballet and jazz, then also gymnastics, until her mother, Roxanne, made her choose around the age of nine. “You’re good at both of these things, but what if you put your energy into one thing?” she asked, already noticing that her daughter’s young body was being put through a lot. And it wasn’t just the physical activity in-and-of-itself that was taxing.

As the story goes, when Whitney was a baby, she had three fat rolls on one leg and two fats rolls on the other. That’s how her mom first noticed. After a battery of tests and tracking her growth, Whitney was diagnosed with hemihypertrophy, a condition in which one side of the body grows larger than the other, to an extent considered greater than normal. Most of us are at least slightly uneven, but you could really notice the discrepancy between Whitney’s leg lengths. Her right side was clearly growing longer and larger than the other. After coming to America, Whitney traveled back to Toronto every six months to see her doctors, at a hospital unhelpfully named SickKids. By the time she was an adolescent, doctors predicted the final difference would end up around four to five centimeters, and to prevent that, they recommended surgery. Whitney’s parents agreed. The summer she turned 11, after a family trip to Australia, a surgeon made four incisions on her right leg and scraped the growth plates of her tibia and femur, telling the bones to stop growing. It worked—but then she had an unexpected growth spurt, and her left leg outgrew the right. Almost 30 now, Whitney’s right arm is slightly longer than the left, her left leg is about three-and-a-half centimeters longer than the right, and she has more muscle definition overall on her right side. “It makes things real interesting,” she says with a wry smile.

But if you know Whitney at all, you know she is rather competitive, and not one to make excuses, even when those excuses would be entirely justified. The girl wanted to dance and dance she did. “You grow up as a dancer, you grow up in a mirror,” she says, and for better or worse, she imbibed the subtle and not-so-subtle messages that perfection was the only option. Three to four hours a day, five days a week, she looked in a mirror and modeled her physical form after someone else—her teacher or the best student in class—and constantly worked to make her version match their version. In CrossFit or yoga, there are ways to mold or modify the movements to your body’s specific geometry but in studio dance, even if your right hip isn’t naturally as high as your left, it doesn’t matter. You get your leg up. You figure it out. And you don’t let anyone see you sweat.

Of course, Whitney did figure it out. She became one of the best dancers in the studio, figuring out how to pirouette or balançoire such that no one would notice she had a stronger side. Within a year of her surgery, she was dancing with the 16-year-olds and began performing in national competitions. She first experienced the nervous pees at one such competition, wearing a tiny crushed-velvet maroon dress, before going onstage to perform a dance called “Cherish,” set to a sultry Sade song. Being exposed to an older peer group roused Whitney’s desire for greater independence and she admits that she developed an attitude and experimented with being a bit stuck-up. She began assisting dance classes, demoing movement for younger girls and giving small movement corrections. By the time she was 16, she was spending her summers teaching and choreographing.

It was around this time that Miss Jenny, the owner of the dance studio Whitney grew up in and her beloved teacher, pulled Whitney into her office and said something along the lines of, “You’ve always had a great attitude, but lately that’s been changing. I know this isn’t who you are, and you can’t keep acting this way.” Whitney broke down in tears and apologized. It was complicated feedback for her to receive. While she changed her behavior in ways she sees as positive, yet again there was that insidious message: “Be perfect, little girl. Don’t mess up.”

Her teenage schedule looked like this: Wake up at 6 a.m., go to school, musical practice (yes, musical practice) from 4-6 p.m., slamming a roasted chicken breast Subway sandwich, dance from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the studio, go home and do homework until 2 a.m. As you might expect, Whitney was a quiet, diligent student, and got straight A’s. She floated around on the fringes of friend groups and didn’t party. She has a somewhat photographic memory and liked school to what she says was probably “an annoying degree.” Also, that competitive side again: from a young age, she not-so-secretly tracked her hockey-playing smart older brother’s GPA, and constantly checked whether she was beating him (they were both eighth-grade valedictorians).

Whitney knew she would study dance after high school. What else would I do? she thought. This is what I’m doing, this is what I love. Despite getting a full-ride to the University of Arizona’s prestigious dance program, she picked the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, whose dance program was smaller and had a heavier emphasis on modern dance. She joined a sorority and lived in the house, which on a 4,552-acre campus, was fortunately only a short walk to the dance department. Convenient, given her penchant for waking up at the absolute last minute. Also convenient given that in college, along with learning how to dance in a new style, she learned how to party. (Additionally, she learned things in college that led her to surrender chicken breast sandwiches and become a pescetarian, which we’ve talked to her about here and here.)

Whitney now says that her BFA in dance taught her how to be uncomfortable, how to be creative and express herself, and how to work with people—things that are different than sitting in a statistics class day after day—and that aligned with the kind of person she wanted to be in the world. She also found yoga her junior year when she took an 8am class three days a week as part of the dance program. She loved the disciplined process of repeating the same movements over and over. Her daily hours of dancing had birthed knee problems, bad plantar fasciitis, and arthritis in her big toe, and yoga helped temper those injuries.

After graduating from college in 2008, Whitney moved to New York. Why New York? She was scared of the city and figured that meant she should go there. Her boyfriend, who was living in California at the time, joined her and they found an apartment the South Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. When the boyfriend moved out a couple years later, Whitney walked over to her landlord and his wife’s apartment and asked them to lower the rent so she could still afford it. They said yes, and she told them she’d probably be here forever. She just signed her lease for her eighth year.

Also in 2008, the yoga-inspired athletic apparel company Lululemon only had one store in the entire city, on the Upper West Side. They were about to open three more stores and Whitney got hired to work at the SoHo location. A big component of her job was to take an unlimited amount of classes throughout the city, in which she would wear the clothes, talk about the clothes, and give instructors or the person on the next yoga mat over the clothes. She took all the dance and yoga classes she wanted for free, and in her free time, went to dance auditions. She got certified as a yoga instructor in 2010.

Lululemon soon hired her to open a mini showroom in Brooklyn, and with her team, she began exploring the community—which would lead her to CrossFit South Brooklyn. “I found this weird thing called CrossFit,” one of her colleagues said. “We should go check it out.” It was late 2009, and Whitney emailed David and told her they were interested. David wrote back and offered to set up a teaser class. Whitney forgot to write back, and a few weeks later, she got an email that said, “I saaaaaaiiiiiiiddddddd, let’s set up a free teaser class. Thanks, David.” When they walked into the The Lyceum for the class, a 24-year-old David—donning a thick beard and flannel button-up—was sitting with his feet up on a desk. “We were all simultaneously like, ‘Who is this cute guy?’ and also, ‘Is he for real?’” Whitney says, laughing. She was taking at least one or two dance or yoga classes each day and though she’d never set foot in a gym, she certainly didn’t think she was out of shape. It only took a few CrossFit classes for her to realize that there might be more to fitness than she’d realized. After a longer conditioning workout, she even asked David if it was possible for her heart to explode. “No,” he said. “Take a break, but you’re fine.”

When Whitney was fired from Lululemon in December of 2012, she’d begun attending CFSBK classes more regularly. CrossFit had unexpectedly become important to her. She loved the absence of mirrors, and along with picking up the movements relatively easily, something clicked and she learned, yet again, how to be uncomfortable.

Losing her job would give her a new opportunity to practice that skill. “It was a shock, but a necessary push off a cliff,” Whitney says now, and she began to shed the parts of her identify that were tied up in her job. At CFSBK, David approached her and asked her to staff the new Front Desk, which replaced the old envelope that used to sit on a table at the entryway. Whitney accepted, and also began teaching a few regular yoga classes.

At a certain point, she began realizing a couple things: One, that CrossFit South Brooklyn was really a special place, and two, that she couldn’t help but see things. She’d be foam-rolling on the mat before class and see a person from preceding class doing a lift, and she’d wonder to herself, What would I say to them to make that lift better? What cue would I give them? Occasionally she’d share her thoughts with her bar partners, but she mostly kept her mouth shut, and trained hard.

Toward the end of 2013, apropos of nothing but her own initiative, Whitney got her Level 1 certification. She casually mentioned it to David, though she was committed to becoming a CrossFit coach regardless of whether he would hire her—which he did, in January of 2014. It was around that time that a few other big things happened. She picked up more consistent work as a yoga instructor. She adopted her dog, Penny, who watches over the meat CSA pick-ups and is almost as big a part of the community as Whitney (and certainly oft-photographed). And she started to realize that her skills had changed in the gym. She knew how to push.

“What’s so wonderful about CrossFit is that you can only work against your own edge,” she says. “You could try to work against someone else’s edge, but you’ll end up hurting yourself or underserving yourself. The best thing you can do is work against your own edge consistently, while also having the perspective of other people. It’s important to see, for me especially, other women in the gym whose strength you admire—and to say, ‘Damn, okay… let’s go.’” 2015 was the first year she didn’t dance, but everything is a compromise of some kind, she says. Training and coaching CrossFit happen to be what she loves the most.

*She’s had her fair share of wipeouts, of course. Ask her about a tuna fish sandwich and red grapes in grade school, or about her recently deceased toenail.

Parting Shots
How she likes her eggs
: Either scrambled or over-medium. Three eggs a day!
Favorite book
: Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections
Favorite lift
: Snatch
Something she’d like CFSBK members to know
: She really, really likes coaching, and when you tell her that something she said or did made a difference for you, it makes her heart swell with joy and contentment.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Sumo Deadlift | Kettlebell Swings, Box Jumps
The Accidental Powerlifting World Record Holder The New Yorker

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Sumo Deadlift | WOD 3.27.16

Posted on Sunday, March 27, 2016

Sumo Deadlift

3-3-3-3-3

Work up to a heavy triple for the day. No failing. No loss of neutral spine.

Post loads to comments.

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5 rounds for reps:
1 Minute Russian KB Swings 53/35
1 Minute Box Jumps 24/20″
1 Minute Rest

Post reps and Rx to comments.

These CrossFit Kids are off and running under the watchful eye of Coach David

  • Reminder: We’re running on our regular schedule today. Hop on over and get your fitness on!

Catching Up with the CFSBK Classifieds 

Did you know that we offer a classifieds section of the website for our members? Well, we do! Here are a few examples of goods and services up for grabs at the moment:

  • Stella Z. is giving away two free(!) tickets to an April 17th performance of Mozart, Bach, and Mendelssohn by the Calidore String Quartet.
  • Actually, that’s it for now. Nothing else has been posted recently! Get on there and post some more! CFSBK members have advertised everything from juicers to furniture to cars (no illegal exotic pets, please).

We hope you’ll take advantage of this fun feature. Many people have found roommates there. Why deal with Craigslist when you can live with your workout partner?

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Getting Rid of the “Butt Wink”  All Hands on Fitness
How Running and Meditation Change the Brains of the Depressed NYMag

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Open Workout 16.5

Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2016

Open Workout 16.5

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Thrusters 95/65
Bar-Facing Burpees

This workout begins with the barbell on the floor and the athlete standing tall. At the call of “3, 2, 1 … go,” the athlete will perform 21 Thrusters, then 21 Burpees, jumping over the barbell for each rep of the Burpees. They will then perform 18 of each, then 15 of each, etc., until the last round of 3 of each. Every second counts in this workout. Your score will be the time it takes to complete all 168 repetitions. There is no time cap for this workout.

This workout ends when the feet land on the other side of the bar on the final rep. Time will be recorded in full seconds. Do not round up. If you finish in 7:49.8, your score is 7:49.

If you do not use standard-sized bumper plates on the barbell, you will also need a second barbell set with standard plates to jump over for the burpees, unless you are Scaled Masters. Scaled Masters will be permitted to jump over an empty barbell on the Burpees.

Post times to comments.

Exactly one year ago: Steph M. at the top of a Thruster in Open Workout 15.5. Good luck to everyone doing 16.5 today!

Supergirl Documentary Kickstarter Campaign

Brooklyn-based filmmaker Jessie Auritt is making a docmentary called Supergirl, the coming of age story of an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who is a world record holding powerlifter. She lives in northern New Jersey and first broke the world record at 9 years old and again at 10 – squatting 215 lbs in the 97 lbs weight class! 

Since she began lifting competitively at the age of eight, under the coaching of her father, Naomi “Supergirl” Kutin has consistently shocked spectators and lifters alike, lifting close to three times her bodyweight and breaking one record after another. Nicknamed “Supergirl” by her parents, she has become an international media sensation, appearing on multiple television shows and amassing thousands of fans on social media. Here’s the film’s website, where you can learn more about it: http://www.supergirldoc.com/

The Supergirl team is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds they need to finish the film. They need to reach their goal of $35,000 by next week in order to finish the film, so in the spirit of our own Iron Maidens Raw Open, let’s help them get there!
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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Nicole Carroll’s Tips for 16.5 CrossFit

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Rest Day

Posted on Friday, March 25, 2016

Ben L. Overhead Squats as the Big Ass Fan sits idle (for now) | Photo by Thomas H.

This Week at CFSBK in Review

What time is it? REVIEW TIME!

1. We’ll be running on our normal schedule this Easter weekend. Nothing is cancelled!

2. Interested in food entrepreneurism, sustainability and investing? Coach Margie is working on a conference called Food + Enterprise, and they’re looking for some workshare volunteers. The Food + Enterprise Summit is happening April 8&9 at the old Pfizer building in Bushwick, now devoted to cultivating some of the best artisanal food makers in NYC. If you’d like to attend, and are willing to help out, check out this link to the workshare track for a drastically reduced ticket price.

3. Our top marathoner Nishi U. filled us in on how CrossFit and her marathon training complement each other. Read all about it!

4. In this week’s “Better Know a Member,” we learned all about soon-to-be attorney, Yoda fan, and beloved CFSBKer Meredith R. She has some excellent advice for Crossfitters. Lift you must!

5. We also caught up with news and notes from your fellow gym-goers. Have you downloaded Chris Y.‘s app Knoto yet? Do it now so you can say you knew about it before it was cool!

6. Big things are happening in the CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition! What are those things? All we can tell you is that they’re big and they’re happening and you can click here to find out about them.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Run/Power Clean
How “Anxious Reappraisal” Can Turn Anxiety into Success The Atlantic
The Strange Tale of Echo, The Parrot Who Saw Too Much Digg

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

WOD 3.24.16

Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2016

Run/Power Clean

Every 5 Minutes for 6 total rounds (30 minutes):
In 3 minutes…

270m Run
Max Power Cleans at 205/135
Rest 2 minutes

Today’s intent is for you to handle a heavy load under duress. Keep this in mind when scaling. Most people will have between 60 and 90 seconds left to perform the Power Cleans, so the average should be between 5 and 10 reps. This is a running day! Only scale to rowing if you have an injury that prevents you from running.

Post times and Rx to comments.

How much ya bench, Jake? | Photo by Thomas H.

  • Schedule note: We’ll be operating on our normal schedule this Easter Sunday. Hop your way over and do some fitness!

CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition: Week 4

Week 4 of the Open Intramural Team Competiton was a lot like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield’s 1997 fight for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. Remember that one? It’s the one where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear off. After The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers landed a devestating 15-point punch to tie things up last week, Your Pace or Mine? responded by coming out in the 4th round and biting the Urban Achievers’ collective ear off. Wait, no. That happened in the 3rd round. And wait, no. Tyson was losing. Ok, look, forget about all of this. Just watch out for your ears.

Anyway, the point is that Your Pace or Mine? reclaimed 1st place this week with another 19-point performance, setting up a major showdown in Open Workout 16.5, the last of the competition. Who’s going to win? I don’t know, but you can head to your favorite offshore betting website to see the latest odds.

In other news, All Castro Oiled Up maintained their grip on 3rd place, which is impressive considering how oiled up they all are. But they need to watch their backs for the 4th place Sore Winners in the final week. Blue Steel squeaked back into 5th place (Dave Fung literally squeaked—it was adorable), leaving It’s My Open in last place but not by much.

In the end, we’re all winners because we’re all members of CrossFit South Brooklyn, a good reason to keep your membership forever.

Current Ranking – Team – Overall Average (Week 4 Points)

1. Your Pace or Mine?: 21 (19)

2. The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers: 22 (24)

3. All Castro Oiled Up: 25 (25)

4. Sore Winners: 29 (26)

5. Blue Steel: 31 (29)

6. It’s My Open and I’ll WOD If I Want To: 32 (32)

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Bench Press | “Cindy Row Your Boat”
5 Tips for Going Upside Down Yoga Journal

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Bench Press | “Cindy Row Your Boat” (LFPB Capacity Test)

Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Bench Press

Performance
Bench Press
1-1-1 @ 85%+

Warm up and make 3 singles at 85% or better of your 1RM. If it’s feeling great, then go for a new 1RM. If not, hang back a bit and make three heavy reps.

Fitness
Bench Press
5-5-5

Find a heavy 5-rep Bench Press. You should feel like you can do 2-3 more at your heaviest weight. No failing.

Post loads to comments.

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“Cindy Row Your Boat” | LFPB Capacity Test

AMRAP 10 minutes:
5 Kipping Pull-Ups
10 Push-Ups
15 Air Squats

Rest 2 minutes, then:

AMRAP 3 minutes:
Max Calories Rowed

Sub Ring Rows or Banded Pull-Ups as appropriate.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

Snickers showing off her levitation skills during 16.4 | Photo by Thomas H. 

News and Notes from CFSBK Members

We love the crew of brainiacs and all-round talented people who help make the gym a special place. Here are just a few recent news items about CFSBKers:

  • For the past two years Chris Y. has been working exclusively with a very small (now Vitamin D deficient) team on a considerably hardcore piece of software. It’s been one of the most difficult and challenging experiences he’s had as a designer. And now he’d like to introduce Knoto! An app that uses face recognition to make sending photos fast, simple and easy: from organizing photos by person to seamless AutoSending (and everything in between). Do you keep forgetting to send those group selfies? Send them as soon as you take them. Do your folks want more pics of your kids? Share every moment with them as it happens. Do you just want more photos of yourself? Get every one, every time, in real time. Knoto – photos that know where to go. It’s free and available now in the App Store. Let’s all congratulate Chris and start using Knoto!
  • Gerry M. riffed on the latest doings in the presidential race for The New York Times Closeup on NY1 News (starting at 25 minutes into the program). Well done, Gerry!
  • Packer is looking for people to join him in forming a team for a Ragnar Trail race. Follow the link for details, but the way it works is: everyone runs three times, a different trail each time; in between, you’re camping out, hanging out with friends, making new friends, and enjoying time outside the city in a beautiful spot. He’s considering two races: 1) Wawayanda Lake (Sept 30 – Oct 1, about 50 miles from NYC) or 2 ) Big Bear Lake, West Virginia, (Aug 12 – 13). E-mail him at David [dot] Packer [at] gmail [dot] com to let him know you’re interested!

Got something of note going on in your life? Let us know! We want to hear about your promotions, events, art, personal victories, discoveries, media campaigns, and small government coup d’états, or you can just share interesting links. We also always love hearing about any CrossFit/athletic-related goals and accomplishments. Send awesomeness to Josh [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn [dot] com.

Open Leaderboards

Wondering how you stacked up against your fellow CFSBKers in 16.4? Well, here are a whole bunch of leaderboards!

  • Overall Leaderboard
  • Men’s Leaderboard
  • Women’s Leaderboard
  • Men’s Masters Leaderboard (40-44)
  • Women’s Masters Leaderboard (40-44)
  • Men’s Masters Leaderboard (45+)
  • Women’s Masters Leaderboard (45+)

(NOTE: There are technically a few divisions between 45 and 60; however, in the latter two, we only had a couple of competitors in each division. We combined everyone 45+ to make it easier to view.)

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Feminine Muscularity: Reshaping The Cultural Understanding of Beauty Huffington Post
Potential: How Women in CrossFit Are Transforming the Definitions of Strength and Femininity CrossFit

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Rest Day

Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2016

“Small You Are. Lift You Must,” says Meredith’s shirt. Small she is and lift she does. Read on to learn more about Meredith, aka “Megadeath”

  • Looking for something? We may have it in our Lost and Found! Check out our most recently gathered treasures. Please pick up your items before we donate the to CHIPS in a couple of weeks.
  • Team Captains: please submit your team score to the intramural spreadsheet by 12pm tomorrow.

Better Know A Memeber: Meredith Riley

Welcome back to a newish feature on the CFSBK blog, Better Know a Member! (The name is a play on an old Stephen Colbert segment, Better Know a District.) You all love Underneath the Hoodie and Behind the Desk, and now, in a similar vein, we’ll be profiling members from across the CFSBK community. In our previous installment, we introduced you to Frank H. Today it’s time to meet Meredith R.!

Name (and any nicknames): Meredith, Mer, Mer Bear, and (very occasionally) Megadeath

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Born and raised in Patchogue, NY. (Coincidentally, same home town as the one and only Murph, though our high school was not named for him back then.) My Mom’s family is all from South Brooklyn, though, so this feels more like home than any other place I’ve lived. 

Since college, those other places include Massachusetts, DC, NYC, the UK, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

How long have you been CrossFitting, and how did you arrive at CFSBK? About a year-and-a-half. As a long-time runner, I’d been getting strength and cross-training through a neighborhood bootcamp class until it went defunct while I was abroad for a summer interning at the UN in Geneva. Another student there mentioned she was going to try out crossfit, and I was curious. A friend had been going to CFSBK and a few bootcampers had defected there, so I decided to tag along for the month. This other student neglected to mention that she’d been an officer in the Australian army while earning her first law degree (that was a material fact, Abby!), but we both survived. Then I signed myself up here and never looked back.   

   

What are you up to when you’re not at 597 Degraw Street? Mostly law school. It’s pretty time-consuming. (But within that, I’ve been co-chair of Law Women, was in our global justice clinic, and am on the board of the international law journal and the student bar association.)

What’s the first movie you ever loved? Going to have to be cliche here and say Star Wars. See photo above.

You have friends or family coming to visit from out of town. What  do you take them to do in NYC? Totally depends on the person, occasion, and season. It’s a great big wonderful city out there

Favorite and least favorite lifts: Favorite: Clean and Jerks, because they’re fun. Also Deadlifts, because they’re useful. Least favorite: Snatches. I can’t tell you how long I avoided Dnatch day

Any advice for new CFSBKers? Yes. First, everything will be weird and you will regularly feel like you have no idea what you’re doing and occasionally wonder why you’re doing it. That’s good. When I started Foundations, I had never touched a barbell before in my life. My whole fitness identity was wrapped up in being a runner/rower/hiker/climber/outdoors things/cardio person, not a beefy meathead who just lifted things up and put them back down. The idea of lifting seemed so absurd that when it came time to actually pick the barbell up, I laughed. Out loud. In front of lots of other people. Then I remembered that that was actually what I was there for, and picked the goddamn thing up and put it back down. It’s so strange to think about that now, because I’ve done that thousands of times and have come to genuinely love that bar. It seemed so weird and now it’s one of my favorite things in the world. So, sometimes things will seem absurd. Sometimes they are (Handstands? Handstands plus Push-Ups? HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS????). Just go with it. Trust your coaches, trust yourself, and it’ll all work out.
Second, don’t ever beat yourself up about things not going as planned. Figure out what went wrong, what you can do to improve on it, and have a plan for how you’re going to implement that in the next workout. Return to the beginning of this paragraph if things do not go according to plan.

 
Third, compare yourself to others only to better yourself, not to feel better about yourself. Nor feel worse about yourself? Everyone has their own path and neither one of those things are useful.

And last, I still consider myself “new.” Not only because my numbers are itty bitty and I still can’t properly string Double-Unders together, but because there is always more to improve on, more to learn, more to get better at, and different ways to get stronger. That’s the point. So: play the long game. This stuff only works if you’re in it for the long haul. 

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Snatch Balance | Overhead Squats, Burpees
Free CrossFit Class an Inspiring Fix for Recovering Addicts Staten Island Live
Feet In Smoke: A Story About Electrified Near Death Deadspin

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Snatch Balance | WOD 3.21.16

Posted on Monday, March 21, 2016

Snatch Balance

5-3-1-1-1-1-1

Work up to a heavy single Snatch Balance. Focus on being fast under the bar with elbows locking out as your feet land. Stabilize the catch before recovering. If your Overhead Squat is less than ideal for the Snatch Balance (which requires a dynamic catch in the position), then perform a Snatch Grip Push Press + Overhead Squat instead.

Post loads to comments.

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AMRAP 8 Minutes:
3 Overhead Squats 115/80
3 Burpees
6 Overhead Squats 115/80
6 Burpees
9 Overhead Squats 115/80
9 Burpees
…Add 3 reps per round until time is called

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

Andre L. enjoying some 16.4

  • Interested in food entrepreneurism, sustainability and investing? Coach Margie is working on a conference called Food + Enterprise, and they’re looking for some workshare volunteers. The Food + Enterprise Summit is happening April 8&9 at the old Pfizer building in Bushwick, now devoted to cultivating some of the best artisanal food makers in NYC. If you’d like to attend, and are willing to help out, check out this link to the workshare track for a drastically reduced ticket price.

Marathon Training and CrossFit: A Note from Nishi U.

While CrossFit and endurance training may seem to be at cross-purposes, the fact is that they can complement each other quite well. CFSBKer and marathoner Nishi U. recently sent this note on her recent success to Coaches Jess and David. It’s so good that we decided it to share it with the whole community. Enjoy! 

Jess, you may not remember, but you asked me about testing my mile a few months back. That actually led me to ramp up my running speed work; however, after a few weeks, instead of planning a mile time trial, I jumped into my latest marathon training cycle. For the first time, I used the Hanson’s Marathon Method, which had intimidated me in the past due to its volume of speed and tempo work. Because I had been CrossFitting significantly more in my “downtime” since my last marathon (in October), I noticed my “easy” pace was a bit faster and I could pretty comfortably hit a tempo pace that had previously seemed out of reach.

This is a long way of saying that I PR’d my marathon this past weekend in Cary, NC with a time of 3:35:07! That’s almost 9 minutes faster than my 3:43:53 a year ago! Yes, that means I was 7 seconds over qualifying for Boston, but it was a tough race (humid and hot compared to the 30 degree weather I trained in), and despite going out a bit too hard, I managed to average my goal pace (8:12/mi) on the nose. I seriously never thought I’d be able to run that fast for so long! Considering this is my 3rd PR since joining CFSBK, I can say with confidence all those squats, box jumps and snatches have something to do with it. 🙂

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Back Squat | Pull-Ups, Lunges, Sit-Ups
Respect Your Vestigial Organs The Daily Good
Stopping the Spread of Misinflammation Starting Strength

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Back Squat | WOD 3.20.16

Posted on Sunday, March 20, 2016

Back Squat

3-3-3-3-3

Work up to a max triple for the day.

Post loads to comments.

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5 Rounds for Time:

10 Pull-Ups
20 Alternating Lunges
30 Sit-Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Wall-Baller: Jenny M. doing 16.4 | Photo by Thomas H.

Got Kids? Check Out Our CrossFit Youth Programs!

Our CrossFit youth programs emphasizes physical development through games and age appropriate “workouts”. Most importantly, we’re all about having FUN! Developing a positive association between fitness, physical activity, and the joy of movement is the primary goal of our programs. Our Preschool and kids classes are comprised of obstacle courses, relay races, basic gymnastics, games and other engaging physical activities. Our teens class begin to look more like CrossFit with basic weight training, calisthenics and conditioning workouts. Think of it like the gym class you wish you had growing up!

CrossFit Preschool (3 – 5 years old):

Run! Jump! Skip! Roll! Through playful games and fun activities, children learn to move safely and gain basic coordination and body awareness. Together we explore tumbling and movement using fun, kid-friendly scenarios and games. Your preschooler will flex their mini-muscles as they build their confidence and develop their fine and gross motor skills.

You can also read one of our articles about this class with sample programming.

Schedule:
Mondays 4:15 – 5:15p
Sundays: 10:00a – 11:00a

Pricing:
Single Class Drop-in: $30
5 pack: $135 ($27/class)
10 pack: $250 ($25/class)

Sign up here!

CrossFit Kids (6 – 11 years old):

Building on the skills they developed in CrossFit Preschool, our Kids classes are designed to build strength, further develop coordination, and encourage a lifelong love of fitness. Age-appropriate programming includes calisthenics, basic tumbling, running, climbing, throwing, and other modalities to stimulate bone density and vestibular system development while improving fine and gross motor skills, coordination, and flexibility. On top of physical development, social and cognitive growth is encouraged through teamwork, problem solving, and building the confidence that helps them make healthy choices.

Schedule:
Mondays: 5:30p – 6:30p
Wednesdays: 4:30 – 5:30p
Fridays: 4:30p – 5:30p

Pricing:
Single Class Drop-in: $30
5 pack: $135 ($27/class)
10 pack: $250 ($25/class)

Sign up here!

CrossFit Teens (12 – 17 years old)

Have a teenager who is looking to gain a competitive advantage in their sport, improve their fitness, learn new skills, and have fun in a supportive, social environment? CrossFit Teens is a strength and conditioning program that is specifically designed for teenagers and helps them develop a lifelong love of fitness. In a group setting, teens participate in fun and engaging workouts that deliver measurable results and prepare them to be well- rounded athletes. The workouts consist of constantly varied, functional movements that deliver a fitness that is broad, inclusive and general and scalable for any participant at any level. 

Classes will begin with a warm-up and icebreaker-style question. Each class will include skill practice and a strength development aspect, specifically designed to be accessible and appropriate to teenaged athletes. Classes will finish with a WOD, or Workout of the Day, designed to test work capacity, endurance, skill, and strength in a fun, competitive, but inclusive environment. As the school year starts, post-class homework time will be included to take advantage of the increased mental capacity brought about by movement and physical exertion.

Schedule:
Tuesdays: 4:30p – 5:30p
Thursdays: 4:30 – 5:30p

Pricing:
Single Class Drop-in: $35
10 pack: $300 ($30/class)

Sign up here!

20% discount for siblings (do not have to be registered for the same class).
There is a 3 month expiration on the 5 pack and a 6 month expiration on the 10 pack.

Testimonials:

 “My son recently started CrossFit Kids and loves it. He’s played sports and gotten a lot from his experiences, but on the way home from CrossFit the other day he was so pumped and proud of himself. He felt strong and powerful, and he couldn’t stop talking about what he did. I’m so excited that he has the opportunity to get stronger mentally and physically at CF kids.”

–Adele M.

“My kids loved CrossFit Kids yesterday! I got an earful when I got home from all three at once trying to explain what they did. Then I had to feel their muscles. David and Janelle wore them out pretty well because at around 7pm they asked if it was okay to skip bath and book and go right to sleep.”

–Matt C.

Want More Information? 
For questions about our Preschool and Kids programs, contact Janelle [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com for questions about our Teens program, please contact Noah [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com

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How Long Does It Take to Lose a Skill? Hopes&Fears
Sara Sigmundsdottir’s Reaction to the 16.4 Announcement Gfycat

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

Open Workout 16.4

Posted on Saturday, March 19, 2016

Open Workout 16.4

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:
55 Deadlifts 225/155
55 Wall-Ball Shots 20/14lbs, 10/9′
55-Calorie Row
55 Handstand Push-Ups

Prior to starting this workout each athlete will need to stand against the wall and measure and mark their foot line for the handstand push-ups (details in Movement Standards section). This workout begins with the barbell on the floor and the athlete standing tall. At the call of “3, 2, 1 … go,” the athlete will perform 55 Deadlifts, then move to the wall and complete 55 Wall-Ball shots, then to the rower to pull 55 calories, then back to the wall for Handstand Push-Ups. If 55 Handstand Push-Ups are completed, the athlete will move back to the barbell and begin another round.

Your score will be the total number of repetitions completed within the 13-minute time cap.

The scoring for this workout includes a tiebreak. At the end of the row, time should be marked. When you submit your final result, your score will be the number of reps completed. There will be another field in which you will enter the elapsed time at which you completed the 55-calorie row. In the case where two athletes have the same score (total number of reps), the athlete with the lower tiebreak time will be ranked higher.

Note: All tiebreak times must be reported in elapsed time, not in time remaining. If you are using a countdown timer, you must convert to elapsed time before reporting your score. For this reason, it is recommended you set your clock to count up.

Post rounds and reps to comments.

V for Victory in Open Workout 16.4!

Strategy Tips for 16.4

By David Osorio

The Deadlifts
The priority when pulling Deadlifts is to make intelligent descions and keep yourself safe. With a high volume set like this, you’re going to have to manage both the load and accumulated fatigue. In my opinion, if you can’t do sets of 8-10 unbroken reps with perfect technique, then you have no business attempting the Rx’d loads. A 1RM of at least around 275/185 should be considered a buy-in. You don’t need to be able to Deadlift a massive amount of weight, but you do need to be able to maintain good positions and be confident that you can get through all 55 Deadlifts by, at most, the halfway point in the workout.

Whichever load you choose, most folks will be breaking this into 5-8 sets with short breaks in between. The limiting factor in this is primarily your ability to maintain a neutral spine, so keep your sets submaximal by dropping the bar with 2-5 reps reps still left in the tank.

Wall Balls
This will vary depending on your capacity. If you hate wall balls as much as I do, I recommend a descending rep scheme broken up into 4-6 sets. 15-15-10-10-5 and 12-12-10-10-6-5 are two examples. You want something that will allow you to pick the ball back up within 15 seconds of finishing a set.

Rowing
Most of us are not accusstomed to pacing with calories, so you might be a little unfamiliar with how your cals per hour translates to your usual 500m splits. Below is a helpful chart from American Oarsmen and a great blog post about the rowing portion, which help you out more than I can. Check it out and determine a range you want to stay in during the row, regulating as you see fit. If you don’t have Handstand Push-Ups and the row will be the end of your workout, thengo out in a blaze of glory and focus on your tie break time. Otherwise finish strong and move on to the last segment of the chipper.

Handstand Push-Ups
You’re not going to be feeling great at this point, but take a moment to get yourself organized as you kick up, and descend into your first reps. The downward phase of your HSPU needs to be under control. Never drop down onto your head and always maintain active support through your arms. Most, if not all, people are going to opt for a kipping HSPU. If you’re not super comfortable organizing these, take your time with them and move with intention and control (i.e., slower). Like the Deadlifts, keep the sets here submaximal and clean. Avoid failuire and pace it out based on how much time you’ve got left and how strong your HSPUs are. Make sure you use a softer surface of some kind for your head like a GoMat or AbMat with bumpers for your hands. Finally, at the top reach through your heels to make sure you get every rep. If you’re getting no-repped, then slow down and adjust your positions to acheive successful reps.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
This Four-Letter Swedish Word Is the Key to Happiness at Work Quartz
Coaches Corner 16.4: Tips for Scaled and Masters Open Workouts CrossFit

| Filed Under: Workout of the Day

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