Blair B. mid-pull | Photo by Bekka P.

All Things Animals at CFSBK

1. For The Love Of Dog Biscuits. CFSBKer Brent A.’s fiancé Jane Seymour works for the non-profit animal charity Friends of Animals and they recently came out with a beautifully illustrated dog biscuit cookbook, wittily titled For The Love Of Dog Biscuits. Brent designed it with Jane, and all of the proceeds from this book go towards the organization’s nationwide low cost spay-neuter program. 

The listing price is $12 and it’s 62 pages, which consist of 12 plant-based recipes, one for each month. This book is the perfect holiday gift for anyone who has a dog, especially if they like to cook or care about feeding their pet healthy non-chemically processed food! Check out the website for images and more information!

2. Adopt Alexander Hamilton. KMo and her boyfriend (a coach at CrossFit NYC!) have been fostering an ADORABLE kitten, nicknamed Hammy, who is looking for his forever home. Here’s his adoption page. Hammy will be at Petco Unleashed on 81 7th Ave from around 12:30-4pm on this Saturday, December 5. KMo would love to have Hammy adopted within the SBK community. Please contact her at Katie.Mohrhauser [at] gmail.com for more information (and really freaking cute pictures!).

If you want to help cats like Hammy but can’t commit to adoption, you can donate to Brooklyn Animal Action. They do awesome work and are completely run by volunteers. 

3. Refresh yourselves re: our Dogs and Kids Policies if you plan to bring either or both to your favorite gym. We take pride in being a kid and dog-friendly gym. But in the interest of keeping everyone as safe and focused on their fitness as possible, we have strict policies regarding our favorite tiny humans and creatures. 

4. Stay tuned for the 2016 Dog Calendar! Because we reeaallllyy love pets at CFSBK.

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The Norwegian Secret to Enjoying a Long Winter Fast Company
CFSBK CrossFit Preschool Birthday Party Timelapse

Keep it coming with the PRs!

Press

1-1-1

Work up to a max effort single. Feet must stay flat on the ground and knees must stay locked out. Both arms must lock overhead out simultaneously. 

Exposure 8/8
_____________________ 

Deadlift

1-1-1

Work up to a max single. Feet must stay flat on the ground, no hitching, knees may not re-bend to complete the lift. Maintain a neutral spine throughout each attempt.

Exposure 8/8
Post loads to comments.

Be careful not to let your warm-ups fatigue you too much for your heavy singe attempts. Example warm-ups and attempts are below. However, these are just examples, and you should adjust according to how you feel and what’s worked for you in the past. Understand that not every testing day will result in PRs. The takeaway in this example is doing only a few reps (singles or doubles) so as not to be too fatigued for their heavy attempts. Leave yourself at least 2 minutes between your last warm up and your first attempt, then between each heavy attempt as well.

Press (Previous 1RM of 115, goal of a new 1RM ~120)
45×5, 75×5, 95×1-2, 105×1
110
115
120

Deadlift (Previous 1RM of 270, goal of a new 1RM ~280-285)
135×5, 185×5, 225×1-2, 255×1
270
280
290
_____________________ 

Tabata Row for Calories

Post total calories to comments.

Coach Jeremy getting set to squat. | We’re in the eighth and final week of our programming cycle before Crush Week, which means we’ll be hitting 1 Rep Maxes (RMs). Make sure to tell us all about your new Personal Records (PRs) in the comments!!

Should I Use a Belt For My Lifts?

By Chris Fox

A weightlifting belt can be a useful tool to help you get stronger. It can also be a crutch that a weak lifter relies upon to move more weight than they should. How do you know where on that spectrum you lie? Read on…

Why would I use a belt? Does it protect my back? 

The short answer is that when properly used, a weightlifting belt will help stabilize your spine, and a more stable spine will move more weight. In terms of getting stronger, more weight is better. It’s no coincidence that all of the biggest weights moved in competition are moved by a lifter wearing a belt. Thus, a weightlifting belt can be a useful tool in a lifter’s quest to get stronger. The following quote from the 3rd Edition of Starting Strength sums it up very well: 

A belt protects the spine by increasing the amount of pressure that can be applied to it by the muscles that support it. The belt itself reinforces the “cylinder” of the ab muscles around the spine. At the same time, the belt acts as a proprioceptive cue for a harder abdominal contraction: you can actually squeeze harder with a belt on than without one, just as you can push harder against a loaded barbell than you can against a broomstick.

It augments the lifters ability to use their abs and other trunk stabilizing muscles to stabilize the spine. A more stable spine can move more weight. A lifter who moves more weight becomes stronger. You can see the logic there. The belt alone does not protect your back. It constricts the abdominal cavity. When you take a deep belly breath and contract the muscles that stabilize the trunk, they now have a smaller area to push out into, thus creating more pressure, which helps to stabilize your spine. Yes, when you use your abs effectively they actually push your belly out. We do not “draw in” when we want to use our abs to stabilize our spines! Think about when you were a small child and someone asked you to “make a muscle,” usually meaning to flex your biceps. Did you strive to make the muscle look smaller? No, you pushed it out as hard as you could. The same goes for your abs.

Put another way, the belt is not a passive stabilizer of your spine. The belt enhances the effectiveness of the Valsalva Maneuver. When you have less area to breath into and push your abs into, that air and the contraction of the abs creates more pressure. It’s like putting 13 ounces of soda in a 12-ounce can and then shaking it up. The pressure inside makes it harder to crush. The opposite effect could be achieved by simply opening the tab on the can. It would be easy to deform the can. This is why we don’t inhale or exhale when we are exerting ourselves to move a heavy weight. We hold our breath and stay tight to move it. The belt assists that effort, and as you move heavier weights your abs get stronger in response to the harder isometric contractions they are producing.

Novice lifters SHOULD NOT use belts to assist their lifts.

A novice is any person new to lifting or coming back to lifting after a significant layoff from lifting, and they should not be using a belt. A novice lifter starts light enough to not hurt themselves as they are perfecting the lifts. As your “mover” muscles get stronger (i.e., the muscles that articulate your arms/shoulders and legs/hips) so do your stabilizer muscles (i.e., the muscles that keep your spine rigid). If you use a belt too soon, you can stunt the strength development of the muscles that stabilize your spine. The problem there is that your “mover” muscles become disproportionately strong compared to your stabilizing muscles. When this happens you’re at increased risk of a spinal injury. 

Furthermore, if incorporated into training too early on, a belt can help compensate for poor movement patterns like an asymmetrical shifting of the hips in the squat which can lead to hip injuries. The short solution is to let your limbs and your technique catch up with your spine—not the other way around.

When should I start to use a belt? 

When you’ve trained consistently for a while—from at least 6 months of regular training up to as long as a year—you’ll have developed significant enough strength and coordination such that you may benefit from using a belt. At this point you should have developed proficiency in the lifts and may have even started to fail on an initial linear progression (LP). I cannot emphasize enough that you should be proficient in the lifts before using a belt. Using a belt as a crutch to work around inefficiencies is a recipe for injury (ask me how I know…). 

If you’ve lifted long enough and well enough, then you can enhance your training and get stronger by using a belt to move more weight. If you do it correctly then your rectus abdominus, obliques, transverse abdominus, multifidi, etc. will get stronger as your quadriceps, hamstring, adductors, and biceps, triceps, deltoids, and pectorals, etc. do. You’ll develop balanced strength.

When should I use a belt?

You should use it only when you need it. For most athletes that means your last warm-up set on heavy days and then your heavy work sets. You should not need to use a belt on light to medium (below 85-90%) days and should really never use it on WODs. I really can’t stand seeing athletes doing WODs with very sub-max loads using a belt to compensate for shitty technique. Don’t be that person. 

An exception would be an athlete with a history of disc injury who could benefit from the extra stabilization a belt can provide. In that case, use it judiciously and as infrequently as possible.

What type of belt should I use, and where does it go?

There are a few shapes, sizes, and types of belts available out there. For most lifts, a belt with a consistent width are the best. Best Belts make good quality powerlifting belts and there are others available like it. A good belt is made of a few ply of quality leather or suede and has one or two metal prongs to secure it. They generally come in 4” and 3” widths—your individual anatomy will determine which feels better for you. Some lifters prefer a tapered belt for comfort between the ribs and pelvis (Best Belts also makes these). The taper should be relatively small.

Belts such as this ridiculous thing should be avoided. They’re marketed to a population that thinks the belt will do all the work by supporting the back and make it almost impossible for the lifter to properly use the reinforcement a belt can provide.

Nylon belts with a gradual taper and softer sides are popular in weightlifting due to their comfort, and due to the ease of taking on and off as needed during a WOD. I use them for heavy cleans or front squats because they’re more comfortable. Be aware, however—I’ve seen a few of the cheap ones come apart at the bottom of a heavy lift a few times over the years. The velcro closure just isn’t as strong as leather and metal. As far as nylon, I really like the Harbinger Belt I recently borrowed from a member for some heavy front squatting, and coaches Noah and David are really digging on the ones coming from Blitz Belts (bonus points for the cool logo!). 

Whatever type of belt you use it should, for the most part, fit snuggly just around your belly button. Some deadlifters like to wear it a bit higher for the comfort it can provide in the setup so you might play around with that. For deadlifts or cleans, I personally only like to use them on heavy singles. Any more than that and it moves around on me which causes me to think more about the belt that the heavy bar I’m trying to separate from the cozy gym floor it would like to lazily rest on.

Hopefully this info helps demystify some of the info about what a belt does and how and when to properly use one. THREE CHEERS TO MOVING BIG WEIGHTS!!!

_____________________
Addicted to Distraction The New York Times

Do you use a belt when you lift? 

Snatch

Performance: 75% x 1, 85% x 1, 90% x 1, 85% x 1, 75% x 1
Fitness: 5 x 1

Work up to a heavy but not max effort single for the day. In both versions of programming the goal today is zero misses. Press outs are misses. 

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 7/8
_____________________ 

5 Rounds Not For Time:
3 Snatch Balance, as heavy as possible 
10 Weighted Sit-Ups
10ea Dumbbell 1-Arm Row, as heavy as possible

Need a dumbbell bent-over row refresher? Check this out.

Post rounds and Rx to comments.

Kristin C. dropped into CrossFit Charlotte. The picture is of her and Andy Hendel, gym owner and father of CrossFit Games athlete Spencer Hendel. “Great coaching and good of people. 65 and sunny here!!” Kristin reports. If you’ve been traveling and hitting up other boxes, make sure to fill out a Travel Gym Recommendation. If you took a pic, send it to Managing Editor, Kate R., for some blog lovin’: Katharine [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com.

• SCHEDULE CHANGES: CrossFit PreSchool at 9am, Active Recovery and Anti-Gravity are CANCELLED.
• Don’t forget about the conviction you experienced reading Coach Fox’s article “I Don’t Wanna Snatch” last Monday, and come join us today!

_____________________ 
Juvenoia VSauce 

Front Squat

Performance: Low Intensity, 65-70% x 7 x 4
Heavier than your last Low Intensity exposure. 
Fitness: 3 x 3 Linear Progression 
Heavier than last week’s 3 x 5. Next week is a 1RM test.

Exposure 7/8
Post loads to comments.
_____________________ 

AMRAP 5 Minutes:
50 Double-Unders
20 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9

Rest 2 Minutes

AMRAP 5 Minutes:
25 Double-Unders
10 Wall Balls 14/10, 10/9

Post rounds and Rx to comments.

All the wall balls in 608!

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery

Join the Global Climate March TOMORROW!

Tomorrow at 2pm, millions of people across the planet will take to the streets on the eve of the UN Climate Talks in Paris to demand bold, urgent action on the climate crisis. To support this massive mobilization, the People’s Climate Movement is hosting a virtual climate march where thousands will send in photos or messages about why they want action on climate to make sure world leaders hear us. 

Whether you’re able to join in the streets, or if you just want to support from home, we need your voice. Get more information about the March here, or check out the NYC Facebook page.

_____________________
When Some Go To Church, Others Go to CrossFit The New York Times
Americapox: The Missing Plague CGP Grey
Come Dance With Me (longboard dancing through the streets of Cologne!!) VeyVey Films 

Another way to use the wall ball racks in 597, from the Art Show last Saturday. We’re still digging the art of Inna Aizenshtein, a fellow CrossFitter from CrossFit Virtuosity (pictured above). Many of you already saw her work (and even bought some of her pieces!), but check out more of her stuff on her website.

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Today, Friday (11/27): 
ON: 10am, 11am, 12pm, Open Gym 5:30-8pm
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 8am, CrossFit Kids

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery

Join the Global Climate March this Sunday, November 29th at 2pm!

On Sunday, November 29th at 2pm, millions of people across the planet will take to the streets on the eve of the UN Climate Talks in Paris to demand bold, urgent action on the climate crisis. To support this massive mobilization, the People’s Climate Movement is hosting a virtual climate march where thousands will send in photos or messages about why they want action on climate to make sure world leaders hear us. 

Whether you’re able to join in the streets, or if you just want to support from home, we need your voice. Get more information about the March here, or check out the NYC Facebook page.

_____________________ 
Photographing Veterans Back From War The New York Times 

Clean and Jerk

Work up to something heavier than you’ll use for today’s metcon.

Exposure 7/8
Post loads to comments
_____________________

Partner WOD:
1000m Row
10 Rounds of “DT“
1000m Row

Partners can complete the rows however desired, but must alternate full rounds of “DT.”

One round of DT is:

15 Deadlifts 155/105
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Jerks

Post time and Rx to comments.

Mirko and Ozzy wish you a Happy Turkey Day, or whatever holiday you happen to be celebrating!

• Constance’s segment on CBS News will re-air this morning around 8-8:30am! Tune in and show your friends and families the gym you work out in!

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Thursday (11/26) THANKSGIVING: 
ON: 8am, 9am, 10am
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 12pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, Active Recovery, Comp Class

Friday (11/27): 
ON: 10am, 11am, 12pm, Open Gym 5:30-8pm
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 8am, CrossFit Kids

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery

CFSBK Is Thankful For You!

We’ve posted this as an Athlete of the Month article, however the language and sentiment keeps being appropriate. We coaches would like to honor you all, and this is the forum to do it in. You come to Degraw Street from near and far, even spending up to an hour on a bike or subway to train with us. You come to us early in the morning before work or school, you make time in your lunch hours to WOD with us, and you even make it in in the evening after a long day spent at a desk or caring for kids. You do “shifts” at the gym, caring for your children while your spouse gets their WOD on. You’re willing to hold someone else’s kid so that their mom or dad can finish up at the end of a class. You make time for not just the fitness aspect of CFSBK but you also put in hours and energy to volunteer at events both in-house and on the road. You do your best to learn the names of the people who are squatting and skipping rope next to you. You cheer, hoot, and holler encouragement at your people.

SBKers are YOUR people… You lift hard, you row hard, and you push yourself and everyone around you to be better. You are coachable. You are humble, and eager to help a new member feel right at home. You travel and visit CrossFit gyms around the country and world at large and represent South Brooklyn well. You are proud, if not even a little conceited, that you work out at CrossFit South Brooklyn. You bring your dogs into the gym so the dog-less among you can get a little canine love in the form of a belly rub or a lower leg tongue bath. You socialize outside of the gym with other SBKers and know how to show love the Brooklyn way, whether or not you were born here. Most of all, you “get it.” You are not selfish and you love to see people do well, which is a big part of why we do well.

Thanks to all you special people who make CFSBK what it is and are part of our team. It doesn’t exist without you. Happy Thanksgiving!

_____________________
We turned off the comments today so you can turn off your devices and spend time with people you love!

Back Squat

Performance: Low Intensity, 65-70% x 7 x 4 
Add a few pounds to the last low intensity exposure. 
Fitness: 3 x 3 Linear Progression 
Heavier than last week’s 3 x 5. Next week is a 1RM test.

Exposure 7/8
Post loads to comments.
_____________________ 

“Dumbbell Fran”

21-15-9 Reps for Time:
Dumbbell Thrusters
Pull-Ups

Suggested Rx load on the DBs is 45# for guys and 35# for gals. Scale as necessary so that the sets can be done largely unbroken. If large volume pull ups will slow you down to sets of 2-3 then consider the following version of today’s WOD…

5 Rounds for Time:
9 Dumbbell Thrusters
9 Pull-Ups

Sub bands or ring rows as necessary

Post time and Rx to comments.

Jimin S. warming up his snatch. We loved all your comments on Monday! Track back there to read a bunch of members discuss their relationship to this oft-elusive/glorious/intricate lift. 

• Photos from the Art Show are up in our Flickr account. Check ’em out, and see what it looks like when a CrossFit gym is transformed into an art gallery/dance space!
• Constance’s segment on CBS News will re-air on Thanksgiving (tomorrow) around 8-8:30am! Tune in and show your friends and families the gym you work out in!

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Wednesday (11/25): 
ON: 6am, 7am, 8am, 10am, 12pm 4:30pm, 5:30pm
CANCELLED: 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, CrossFit Kids

Thursday (11/26) THANKSGIVING: 
ON: 8am, 9am, 10am
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 12pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, Active Recovery, Comp Class

Friday (11/27): 
ON: 10am, 11am, 12pm, Open Gym 5:30-8pm
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 8am, CrossFit Kids

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery

Our Coat + Canned Food + Book Drive Ends Today! Bring Your Donations!

We’re combining our coat and can drive with a book drive this year. To keep it simple our collection dates for coats and cans and books (children, to be specific) are going to run from November 15 – 25. Please bring all donations to the Front Desk.

New York Cares Coat Drive 
Give the gift of warmth this holiday season. CFSBK is collecting new and gently used winter coats to help keep those in need warm during the winter season. New York Cares aims to collect 100,000 gently used winter coats each November and December and distributes them to thousands of men, women, and children who would otherwise go without them. They work hand-in-hand with a wide variety of Community Partners in New York City to make sure coats are distributed as quickly as possible. We are only collecting coats at this time.  

City Harvest Canned Food Drive 
CFSBK is collecting canned foods to help stock NYC’s food pantries and soup kitchens. City Harvest helps feed the more than 1.4 million New Yorkers facing hunger each year. They provide free deliveries of food to more than 500 emergency food programs throughout New York City. The most needed foods are canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned proteins (like fish and chicken), and peanut butter (plastic jars).

Reading Partners Children’s Book Drive
Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization that trains students from low-income schools to be confident readers and they need more books! Bring your your gently used children’s books to CFSBK for the Reading Partners Book drive. These books benefit struggling readers from kindergarten to the 4th grade. We’ll post a flyer on the bulletin board with author and title suggestions, please donate new or gently used books only.

_____________________
This Woman Is Better Than You at Picking Up Chicks
How to Cook a Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey 

Snickers prepping her hip for the flexion and external rotation necessary to get deep into a squat. Check out some more hip flossing tricks from Kelly Starrett’s MobilityWOD. 

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Wednesday (11/25): 
ON: 6am, 7am, 8am, 10am, 12pm 4:30pm, 5:30pm
CANCELLED: 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, CrossFit Kids

Thursday (11/26) THANKSGIVING: 
ON: 8am, 9am, 10am
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 12pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, Active Recovery, Comp Class

Friday (11/27): 
ON: 10am, 11am, 12pm, Open Gym 5:30-8pm
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 8am, CrossFit Kids

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery 

Our Coat + Canned Food + Book Drive Ends Tomorrow! Bring Your Donations!

We’re combining our coat and can drive with a book drive this year. To keep it simple our collection dates for coats and cans and books (children, to be specific) are going to run from November 15 – 25. Please bring all donations to the Front Desk.

New York Cares Coat Drive 
Give the gift of warmth this holiday season. CFSBK is collecting new and gently used winter coats to help keep those in need warm during the winter season. New York Cares aims to collect 100,000 gently used winter coats each November and December and distributes them to thousands of men, women, and children who would otherwise go without them. They work hand-in-hand with a wide variety of Community Partners in New York City to make sure coats are distributed as quickly as possible. We are only collecting coats at this time.  

City Harvest Canned Food Drive 
CFSBK is collecting canned foods to help stock NYC’s food pantries and soup kitchens. City Harvest helps feed the more than 1.4 million New Yorkers facing hunger each year. They provide free deliveries of food to more than 500 emergency food programs throughout New York City. The most needed foods are canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned proteins (like fish and chicken), and peanut butter (plastic jars).

Reading Partners Children’s Book Drive
Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization that trains students from low-income schools to be confident readers and they need more books! Bring your your gently used children’s books to CFSBK for the Reading Partners Book drive. These books benefit struggling readers from kindergarten to the 4th grade. We’ll post a flyer on the bulletin board with author and title suggestions, please donate new or gently used books only.

_____________________ 
Adele goes undercover as Adele impersonator, pranks actual Adele impersonators Mashable 

Press

Performance: Low Intensity, 65-70% x 7 x 4 
Add a few pounds to your last low intensity exposure. 
Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression 
Add a few pounds to last week. If you’re missing reps, move to a 3×3 this week.

Exposure 7/8
_____________________ 

Deadlift

Work up to a max triple
Go heavier than last week. 

Exposure 7/8
Post loads to comments.
_____________________ 

AMRAP 7 Minutes:
Burpees

Today’s burpees are to a 4″ height (Old 45# bumper or new 45+35# Rogue bumps). Two foot hop on to the plate is Rx. The jump is to the target, and you must come to full stand on top of the plate. Aim to maintain a steady even pace and not red line until the last 30-60 seconds. 

Post reps and Rx to comments.

Coach Whitney dancing to to Nina Simone’s song “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” at the Art Show on Saturday night

I Don’t Wanna Snatch

By Chris Fox

Your flexibility sucks, you don’t move a lot of weight, it bothers your wrists, even the kids in CrossFit Teens snatch more than you… should you even show up on a snatch day? I’d argue an emphatic YES.

The snatch not only displays athleticism arguably better than anything else, it also develops it better than anything you can do—certainly anything with a barbell. You need to be powerful and flexible to move big weight in the snatch, but of course, you also need to be powerful and flexible to do a back handspring. The thing that makes the snatch a better developer of displaying those qualities is that you can start light and add weight as you develop proficiency.

In CrossFit, we work on the stuff we suck at. We become better, more well-rounded athletes when we develop our weaknesses. It’s fine if you want to specialize and become really be good at X, Y, or Z, but if your goal is to be stronger and fitter overall, then the snatch will help you tremendously. 

You should work on developing a mature overhead squat. That might mean that on snatch days you power snatch and ride down to your best bottom position and hold in a more controlled manner than in a full snatch. It’s still a position worth working on. I always tell my Foundations groups on Overhead Squat/Snatch day (where the majority of people have a hard time, by the way), that if you can sit in the bottom of a mature overhead squat (feet flat, knees out, torso neutral and upright, arms locked out overhead) then there’s almost no other thing in the gym we can’t teach you over time. You’ll still need requisite strength, power, and skill to do stuff but your flexibility will be sufficient. 

Snatching can be fun! It can also be frustrating because there are so many aspects of the lift that can go right or wrong, but I think it’s the most fun you can have with a barbell for exactly that reason. There’s nothing more rewarding in the gym than a hard-earned snatch PR. Truthfully, I hated the lift when I first started because I was bad at it. If you stick with it you’ll develop proficiency in time and be mediocre like me. Let’s face it, you or I will never snatch like Liu Xiaojun (holy shit! And don’t forget the ladies) but we can still improve. Before CrossFit I had practiced cleans but not snatches. The snatch had to play catch-up for quite some time. I could clean around 200 pounds but struggled to snatch just over 100 pounds. I finally put my pride in my back pocket and decided that I would work on it. Over the last few years, my snatch has just about doubled while my clean has gone up by a comparably meager 25%, but I’m a much more balanced weightlifter. 

Need to work on your flexibility for the overhead squat? Do them all the damned time. Seriously, make them part of your warm up ALL THE TIME. Active Recovery is also always a good place to learn new tricks but here are a few oldies and goodies that you can explore on your own time. Happy Snatching!

More Resources:
Kelly Starrett (Mobility WOD) Snatch Prep
Greg Everett (Catalyst) on Flexibility for the Overhead Squat
Colin Burns (Juggernaut) on the Snatch and Overhead Squat

Thanksgiving Schedule Changes 

Wednesday (11/25): 
ON: 6am, 7am, 8am, 10am, 12pm 4:30pm, 5:30pm
CANCELLED: 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, CrossFit Kids

Thursday (11/26) THANKSGIVING: 
ON: 8am, 9am, 10am
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 12pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, Active Recovery, Comp Class

Friday (11/27): 
ON: 10am, 11am, 12pm, Open Gym 5:30-8pm
CANCELLED: 6am, 7am, 8am, CrossFit Kids

Saturday (11/28):
CANCELLED: 8am, Yoga for Athletes, Active Recovery

Sunday (11/29):
CANCELLED: Active Recovery 

_____________________
Describe your relationship to the snatch. 

Every Other Minute for 10 Minutes:
Fitness and Performance: 1 Snatch

For both Fitness and Performance, start at about 70% and work up to a max for the day. 

Post loads to comments.
Exposure 6/8
_____________________ 

AMRAP 20 Minutes:
10 Toes to Bar
15 Box Jumps 24/20
20 Kettlebell Swings 53/35

Sub Knees to Elbows or Hanging Knee Raises for the Toes to Bar as necessary but keep in mind that AMRAPs are a great place to work on a skill that you don’t yet own, even at the expense of a lower score on the WOD. 

Post time to comments.

Grace R. getting set to pull | Photo by the long lost, beloved Bekka P.!

• SCHEDULE UPDATES: AntiGravity and the Teaser class are CANCELLED today! For all of our upcoming schedule changes, check out the Class Schedule page.

Coat + Canned Food + Book Drive

We’re combining our coat and can drive with a book drive this year. To keep it simple our collection dates for coats and cans and books (children, to be specific) are going to run from November 15 – 25. Please bring all donations to the Front Desk.

New York Cares Coat Drive 
Give the gift of warmth this holiday season. CFSBK is collecting new and gently used winter coats to help keep those in need warm during the winter season. New York Cares aims to collect 100,000 gently used winter coats each November and December and distributes them to thousands of men, women, and children who would otherwise go without them. They work hand-in-hand with a wide variety of Community Partners in New York City to make sure coats are distributed as quickly as possible. We are only collecting coats at this time.  

City Harvest Canned Food Drive 
CFSBK is collecting canned foods to help stock NYC’s food pantries and soup kitchens. City Harvest helps feed the more than 1.4 million New Yorkers facing hunger each year. They provide free deliveries of food to more than 500 emergency food programs throughout New York City. The most needed foods are canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned proteins (like fish and chicken), and peanut butter (plastic jars).

Reading Partners Children’s Book Drive
Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization that trains students from low-income schools to be confident readers and they need more books! Bring your your gently used children’s books to CFSBK for the Reading Partners Book drive. These books benefit struggling readers from kindergarten to the 4th grade. We’ll post a flyer on the bulletin board with author and title suggestions, please donate new or gently used books only.

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Congrats to all of our artists last night, and huge thanks to everyone who came out to CFSBK’s second Art Show, especially to our amazing volunteers who helped set up and put all the gear away. It was a smashing success, and Coach Whit crushed her dance (as did all of you at the end of the night)! Photos coming soon!