Fitness: Clean and Jerk
Spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy clean and jerk. If you have a hard time organizing the first pull, then perform the clean from the hang. 

Performance: Clean and Jerk 1-1-1
Warm up and take three attempts at a new PR.
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Front Squat

Fitness: 3-3-3-3-3, Establish a new 3RM
Start your first attempt at or near your last 3×5 weight.

Performance: 1RM Test
Warm up to 80% for a single then:
90%x1
95%x1
100%x1 (this would in fact be a new 1RM)
105%x1
105% + if still moving
Remember to use the same theoretical max you’ve been using all cycle. 

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Jenna J. loves her Herondale Farm eggs!

• Happy birthday, Shawn T.! 

Eggs for Sale + CSA Pickup Tonight

Herondale Farm eggs will be available for purchase today from 6-8:30 during the CSA pickup, $6/dozen. Please bring small bills. Veg and flower pickup is also tonight, as usual!

Want to Get Better at Handstands? 

Now is your chance. Join guest gymnastics coach Ken H. THIS SATURDAY as he takes you through a 1.5 hour class working on handstands, arm balances, walking on your hands, headstands, and other fun balances that engage your core.

No need for prior need for handstand experience! Just the desire to practice being upside down.

Time: Saturday, July 19th, 2-3:30pm
Cost: $20 

The class is capped at 8 participants, so don’t think twice! Register Here! 

Ken Haller’s Bio
Ken was a nationally competitive gymnast in Newton, MA and at the University of Michigan. After graduating, Ken coached for eight years at Capital Gymnastics in Northern Virginia where he coached regional and national champions. His students have gone on to be NCAA champions and members of Cirque du Soliel. In searching for an activity to replace gymnastics, Ken filled the void with rock climbing and yoga for the past ten years and recently found CrossFit to round out his training.

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Wyclef Jean / Jennifer Hunter-Marshall Music Video CrossFit
Understanding CrossFit and the Intensity Prescription The AF Project
Seriously, Stop Refrigerating These Foods Healthy Body Buzz
A Colorful Time-Lapse of the World’s Largest Balloon Festival The Atlantic (!!!)

July Athlete of the Month: Janelle Barth

We’re back, with another addition to your favorite series: Athlete of the Month! Janelle has been quietly and consistently improving since she walked through the roll-up gate at CFSBK two years ago. Her calm approach to the bar and her willingness to push her limits have had her knocking on the AOM door for a while now. Plus, jello shots. Read on for more about another standout SBKer!

Fox: Hey Janelle, congrats on being an Athlete of the Month! Starting from the beginning, when did you first start CrossFit? 

Janelle: I started at CFSBK in January of 2012. I had already been doing some CrossFit WODs with a trainer I was working with at the time who was a CrossFit enthusiast. She also introduced me to barbell training and I was into it but had a few nagging injuries. Mike and Noah (Janelle’s hubby and brother-in-law, respectively) had just finished a Foundations cycle with you and Jess and urged me to give it a try. I was looking to learn to perform the movements properly and possibly join South Brooklyn so I scheduled a PT session to test out of Foundations. Honestly I was intimidated and thought it was a real possibility that I wouldn’t pass the test out and have an excuse to not join. But as fate would have it, I passed. I started with a 2x/week and quickly moved to 5x/week. 

Fox: As I recall, I had the pleasure of doing your test out session. It’s great that your previous trainer introduced you not only to the conditioning aspect of CrossFit, but also to the barbell lifts. You’ve been training pretty consistently since you started with us. What is it about CrossFit that strikes a chord with you? 

Janelle: At first it was the attention to detail and the coaching. I liked CrossFit but wanted to move well and not be injured. The gym quickly became my community though, and that’s a large part of why I keep coming back. Previous to SBK, I’d been involved in a bunch of sports leagues while I lived in Pittsburgh, PA that provided a social outlet and I was missing that. I’m the type of person who can be nervous as the “new girl” but at CFSBK I felt at home right away. It felt like I’d found my people. I slowly started enjoying some of the social events and making friends, making jello shots helped with the latter. Now almost three years later I have strong friendships through the gym. Just chatting on the mat is a nice part of this place. There’s always a coach’s set of eyes on you, paying attention and motivating you. I also like the tangible aspect of fitness in CrossFit. Strength cycle really taught me the value of journaling so I can tell you that my first squat exposure in Strength was at 95 pounds, and after my third time through the program, I hit a 200 pound PR at a total. Strength cycle is a great way to experience a different part of the SBK while still being a part of the community. I see myself bouncing back to it in the future. 

Fox: Doubling your squat in a few months is amazing! I remember, as do many of us I’m sure, the first year you and Mike brought those jello shots. You guys won a lot of people over that night. You mentioned sports leagues, what did you play? 

Janelle: Those jello shots are so tedious but totally worth it! More like what didn’t I play. I was on teams for flag football, volleyball, kickball, softball, you name it. Not to brag but, I was pretty good. Teams would poach me as a ringer. I was kind of a big deal (laughs). I did that stuff as much for the sport and fitness as I did for the social aspect. I don’t play anything anymore since CrossFit fills that role, but I have recently joined a Jack Rabbit running group in the city. After a few strength cycles I wanted to get back to a more diverse level of fitness so I’m doing a few group classes a week in addition to the running group. I’ll be doing my first race in three years this fall. 

Fox: I really like the idea of you fielding offers from competing dodgeball teams! Tell us a little about you outside of the gym. Where are you from, and what do you do outside of the gym? 

Janelle: I grew up in Wheatley Heights, Long Island and had a seemingly idyllic childhood. My sister and I are first-generation American children of a Trinidadian dad and a Croatian mom. Our parents went out of their way to provide us a cookie-cutter life but I still always seemed to feel out of place. I really didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere until I went away to camp. I spent my first summer at Incarnation Camp in Connecticut when I was 12 and then every summer after until I eventually wound up working as a counselor there. That place was and still is so special to me. It’s where I met Mike and where we actually had our wedding. Our first “date” was a Scrabble game at camp, and he’ll tell you he let me win. Funny thing though is he still hasn’t beat me! As far as what else I do there’s actually a lot at the moment. Since I’m between jobs, I’m using the time to improve my skillset. I’ve worked as an operations manager in a few fields but truly enjoy early childhood development and education. My passion is improving the lives of kids. I like to bake and knit for fun, and Mike and I love to explore the world both abroad and locally. On our to-do list for this summer is to walk across every bridge in New York City. It’s a great way to see a new neighborhood and experience the food and art it has to offer. Further from home I’d have to say that my favorite trips so far have been a cruise we took to the Panama Canal, which really can’t be described it was so amazing, and our honeymoon in Hawaii. The Big Island was the best. We went from the rainforest to the mountains in the same day. The constellations we saw on that mountain will stay with me forever. 

Fox: That trip sounds amazing! As does the idea of getting to new parts of the city and walking the bridges. Great stuff, Janelle. I have my last stock question for you. What should we look for in a future Athlete of the Month?

Janelle: Someone who is coachable and willing to get outside their comfort zone. I remember gulping when I saw the number 170 on the board for my squats in Strength Cycle. I was nervous but I trusted Jeremy so I did it. That’s a good place for people to go sometimes. That and someone who takes care of the space and equipment. Put your dumbbells and plates back where they came from, people! 

_________________
Why So Many Kids Can’t Sit Still in School Today Washington Post
Recovery and Mood After Exercise: Do Carbs Make a Difference? Breaking Muscle
32 Pictures That Will Change the Way You See the World BuzzFeed

Fitness: 5 Rep Max
Add 2 to 5 lbs to last week. 

Performance: 87.5% x 4 x 4, then 85% x 4 x 4
Rest less than two minutes between sets.  

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_________________

In one minute perform:
5 Deadlifts 275/185
then,
AMRAP Double Unders for 8 Rounds

Rest 1 minute between rounds, repeat 8 times. Score deadlift weight and total number of double unders.

Post loads and total to comments.

CFSBK’s 8am-ers go Kitchensurfing

News and Notes 

• Happy birthday, Grace D.! 
• CrossFit 718 is relocating this summer to 26th Street & 3rd Avenue, and they’re having a party! 718 Coaches Tammyli and Israel would love for any and all CFSBKers to join them at their new box to celebrate on August 2nd from 9am-2pm with a tough WOD and lots of champagne (and sweat-free raffles and giveaways). Check out their Facebook event page here.
• Another Monday, another new ITA post, and this time, it’s a Q&A about starting your own affiliate. Head over to Inside the Affiliate to check out “Your Fran Time Doesn’t Matter: Starting a Good CrossFit Gym.”
• Yesterday was Charlie L.’s last day at CFSBK as he has joined the exodus to New Jerz. Charlie, you will be missed!

Kitchensurfing in Brooklyn

Last week, some of our 8am regulars got together to… kitchensurf? It’s not what it sounds like—there were no surfboards involved, just the delicious food pictured above. Austen I. and Dan K. work for a company in Brooklyn called Kitchensurfing, which is an online marketplace that allows you to find outstanding local chefs to cook for you, in your very own home. The chef they booked was Linda Sarris, and more flicks of her delicious treats are in our Flickr account, all shot by CFSBK’s talented Susan P. 

If you’d like to jump on the kitchensurfing train, Austen and Dan have a $50 off coupon for CFSBK who want to have their first Kitchensurfing meal. The code is: cfsbk. 

_________________
The Protein Debate: Dr. Loren Cordain & T. Colin Campbell Catalyst Athletics
‘Columbusing’: The Art Of Discovering Something That Is Not New NPR
27 Delightful Obsolete Words It’s High Time We Revived BuzzFeed
From Your Mouth to Your Eyes Dr. Steve Brule 

Fitness: Deadlift: 4 x 2
Add 5-15 pounds. It should be getting heavy, but maintain a perfect spine.

Performance: Power Clean + Push Jerk + Split Jerk at 75% x (1+1+1) x 5 
Use 75% of Wednesday’s number. Buy-in is 1.25xBW clean and jerk for men, 1xBW for women.

Post loads to comments.
_________________ 

For Time:
50 Calorie Row
40 Thrusters 75/55
30 Kettlebell Swings 53/35
20 Burpees
10 Muscle Ups 

If you can’t perform muscle ups, then sub 20 chest-to-bar or jumping pull-ups.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Miguel mid-pull on the snatch

• CONGRATULATIONS to all our Hail to the Queen IV participants, especially Coach MeLo who won SECOND PLACE! We’ll have more pictures from the event soon, but in the meantime, check out CrossFit Queens’ event page for some fun shots of our tough women. Also, this video of Coach Jess owning 170# on the clean complex.
• Happy birthday, Chris B.!
• Active Recovery is today at 11am with Coach Whitney.

_________________  
WATCH: Giant Undulating Anchovy School NPR
6 Reasons To Lose Weight That Have Nothing To Do With Fitting Into Your Skinny Jeans Huffington Post

Last Chance to Train Your Dogs at CFSBK!

Anthony Newman, New York magazine’s pick for Best Dog Trainer of 2013 and owner of Calm Energy Dog Training, is coming to CFSBK to train your dogs! But you must sign up by today by emailing Mare at mare [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com.

When: Saturday, August 2, 2014, at 2:15pm
What: a 90-minute workshop will meet at CFSBK and include obedience exercises in real-world situations, techniques for calm city walking (including a packwalk down to the local dog park), and followed by a Q&A
Where: your favorite gym
Cost: Specially-discounted cost for SBK: $55 per person/dog, which will drop to $45 if at least 10 people sign up

This event is open to CFSBK members and their friends and dogs of all sizes, provided they are basically social and non-aggressive. 

K-Dawg and Funk Master Fox, squattin’ low

“Mad Abs, Yo!” How Pilates Complements CrossFit, and Getting to Know Kristin H.

By Kate Reece

Kristin H. (a.k.a. Cage) hopped on the CFSBK train in the middle of 2010 and in her words, she now “cannot imagine her daily life without it.” We can’t imagine CFSBK without our favorite theatre major either, especially now that she teaches a Pilates class every Tuesday night in the upstairs annex at 7:30pm. Kristin is a classically trained Pilates instructor and has been teaching for more than eight years, after beginning her practice in 1999. She received her certification in April of 2006 from Core Pilates NYC, where she still works as a senior trainer. She is also a longtime member of the small team at Rinaldi Pilates, a top-notch boutique studio in Manhattan. 

Through her class at CFSBK, she’s enabled many of us to become far more intimate with our pelvic floors and abdominal muscles. The Hundred, Open Leg Rocker, and Single Leg Circles are only a few examples of the pain she’s thrown our way—pain that has sculpted us into better, more svelte ninjas. But when it’s all said and done and our washboard abs help us stay tight as we descend deep into our squats or pick up heavy things, some of us might step back and muse: who is this Goddess of the Core? And maybe: I can do some of these Pill-at-eez exercises, but… what the heck is Pilates? And if I already do CrossFit, why should I care? 

Wonder no more. We’re coming to your rescue once again via a splendid interview with the Goddess herself, in which you’ll learn about her mute phase at CFSBK, where the phrase “Mad abs, yo!” came from, and how taking her class might help you kick some more CrossFit ass. For all of this and more, you’re welcome.

CFSBK: Hi KH! Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, what’s your favorite color, how’d you find CrossFit and CFSBK, etc. etc.?

KH: Well, I am a lifelong New Yorker (holla!): I was born and raised in Oyster Bay, Long Island, I went to college upstate at Syracuse University, and right after college I moved to NYC. I spent a year on the Upper East Side before moving to south Brooklyn, where I’ve now been for almost a decade. My favorite colors are deep purple (I spent a few years with a purple streak in my hair) and Syracuse Orange (yes, that’s an official color). And finally, I had heard some intriguing mythical tales of Crossfit from a few friends who had tried it, but what really happened is that I used to walk by the gym on my way to Brooklyn Boulders with an ex-boyfriend, who was a pretty avid climber. I always saw these big scary people flipping tires and stuff, and my workout routine was pretty stale at that point and I was looking for something new, so I decided to give it a try. That was in June 2010, and I never looked back!

CFSBK: We’re so glad you didn’t! I heard a cool story once (okay, you told me) about how you spent your whole first year at CFSBK talking to no one. That’s hard to imagine now. What helped you make the leap into opening your mouth and sharing your hilarious-ness with our community?

KH: Yeah, even though I am pretty social I am not always comfortable in new situations, especially when I don’t know what I am doing or if I feel intimidated. For my first year at CFSBK, I was on a punch card membership, and I wasn’t coming super consistently. When we used to do the “name game” at the start of class, no one ever knew my name because I was pretty quiet (imagine that). I think I started becoming friendly with people when I decided to up my Crossfit game and switch to a 5x week membership. At that time I was going through some personal changes, and changes with my work schedule, and I started regularly coming to the 7am class. That’s when I first started making friends, talking to people, saying things like “See you in class tomorrow!” And from there it just snowballed. The Paleo challenge happened*, I went to some rest day dinners, joined the softball team, started doing Sunday night trivia…the more I got involved with the community the more I felt like, “Yes. These are my people.”

*Editor’s note: The Paleo challenge didn’t just “happen”; she won it in 2012.

CFSBK: How did you start practicing Pilates? What even is Pilates? (Besides one of those words that if you say it over and over, it starts to look absurd.)

KH: I started practicing mat Pilates with a dance professor of mine back in 1999, and always really enjoyed it. I then got into Pilates as a career when I was trying to find a way out of the restaurant business. At the time (2005), I was bartending to pay the bills while pursuing a career in the theatre. Pilates, in a few sentences, is a system of exercises focused on strengthening the “core,” which generally refers to the abdominal, back, and hip muscles. It can be done with just a mat or on machines, and it was invented and developed by Joseph Pilates, who was born in 1883 in Germany, immigrated to NYC in the 1920s, and died in 1967. He opened his first studio in midtown Manhattan, and invented and built all of the Pilates equipment, which basically look like S&M torture machines and have names like “The Reformer” and “The Chair.” Joe’s teachings have been passed on through the generations by some of his original students, which I think is so freaking rad and old school and legit. He was pretty much the bomb diggity. Google him.

CFSBK: We’re on it. So how does practicing Pilates complement training at CFSBK? Besides looking hot in a bikini, why do I need a strong core?

KH: Well obviously, Kate, one’s first priority should always be looking hot in a bikini/speedo. But I think Pilates is such an awesome complement to training at CFSBK because it not only feels great, but it can be directly applied to your lifting technique. One of the things that the Pilates method does really, really well, in addition to strengthening your core, is teach you HOW to brace your core against the movement of your limbs, which is not always as simple as it seems. This helps to keep you safe from injury and also helps you become stronger, because you’ll learn how to move from your hips and shoulders and not let the work go into your back, for example. You will be focusing on engaging muscles that you might be more unfamiliar with. The goal is to learn how to move your limbs from a strong, stable, and supple core.

CFSBK: What can I expect if I come to one of your classes? Will I get a six-pack that night?

KH: Well, historically I’ve had some students who have been disappointed that they didn’t leave class with an immediate six-pack. I don’t want to call anyone out on this, but his name starts with an “L” and rhymes with “Bookah.” However, if you come to class you can expect to spend a lot of time lying down (awesome!), and mostly focusing on stabilizing the pelvis and ribcage against the movement of the limbs. It’s a LOT of abdominal work. Also, especially in my class here at CFSBK, I try to get people to “soften” their movements, and get in touch with deeper muscles that they may find harder to connect to. As CrossFitters, we spend so much time muscling through stuff with dynamic athleticism, that I think it’s helpful to encourage your muscles to work in a different way—maybe with more ease, and a different approach to precision. You can expect to feel taller, stretched out, and you’ll hopefully walk out of class with a newfound connection to your center. Sooooo Zen.

CFSBK: Tell us about this “Mad abs, yo,” business. Where did that phrase come from? 

KH: That was all Chris Fox’s doing. He just said it to me once and I freaking loved it. It became a thing. He also refers to me as “K-Dawg,” which I am so down with. I sometimes call him “Funk Master Fox,” and so should everyone. He also thinks I’m trouble but that’s totally not true.

CFSBK: Right. No trouble at all. So if I’m already sold on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm, how can I get more of you? Where else do you teach?

KH: I am always available for one-on-one sessions or small group sessions, either here at the gym or at one of my studios in the city. If you visit my website (www.khpilates.com), there are links to the two studios that I work at, and you can visit their websites to see when I am teaching group classes. I mostly teach private sessions, but I do have a lunchtime mat class from 1-1:45 at Core Pilates NYC in Union Square on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It’s more of an intermediate-level class, so if you have some Pilates experience and time for a lunch break you should come on down! Mad abs, yo!

CFSBK: Okay, last question: where did the nickname Cage come from?

KH: At the last Tough Titsday meet, when I went up to lift, everyone was calling out “C’mon, KH!” Lauren Howe, who was one of our spotters, turned to someone and said, “Why is everyone calling her Cage?” When I heard that story, I immediately pictured myself squatting 350# while wearing a Hannibal Lector mask, screaming, and making super angry eyes. Decided to make it stick. David is responsible for my original nickname of KH, got K-Dawg from Fox, Cage from Lauren Howe, Wonder Twin from Stella, K-Hizzle from Laura… and that’s not including all of the nicknames I’ve been given earlier in life (Juice, Hessyballs, K-Spano…). Sooo… yeah. I have a thing for nicknames. But I’ll make you a deal: come to my class and you can call me whatever you want (I may instantly regret that)!

• Happy birthday, Nigel S.! 
• CFSBK’s softball team, the Calaveras, have another game tonight at the Red Hook softball field. The game starts at 6:15! Head over there to enjoy the sunset and cheer them on!

_________________ 
Hilary Knight Gets Puck Naked ESPN Magazine 
What To Do Once You’ve Finished All the Beer The Loop 
Sweating Out Their Differences: OK Rep. Markwayne Mullin Whips Fellow House Members Into Shape New York Times

Skin the Cat 101 

5 Rounds Not For Time:
8 Strict Handstand Push Ups or Dumbbell Presses
8 Goblet Step Ups (each leg)
8 Log Roll to V-Ups

Post loads to comments.

• Check out Yoga for Athletes with Coach Whitney at 7:30pm tonight, but please note that Saturday’s 10am session is canceled, since Whit is competing in Hail to the Queen IV.

CFSBK Loses One of its Own: Erik Kolb

We are devastated to announce the death of one of our members, Erik Kolb, age 34. He and five other climbers tragically died on an expedition to Mount Rainier at the end of May. Erik had been a regular at CFSBK since mid-2012 and many of you will remember sharing a rack or bar with him, especially during the morning and weekend classes. Along with being a CrossFitter, Erik was a finance manager for American Express, an avid hiker, world traveler, and Park Slope resident. In his family’s statement, they wrote, “Erik was a smart, gentle and generous man whose warmth and kindness touched the lives of all who knew him. We will miss him sorely every day, and he’ll always be in our hearts.” 

He is survived by his wife Lisa and a number of family members. Please keep them in your thoughts during this difficult time.

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This Always Ad Asks What It Means To Do Something “Like A Girl” CoCreate
Your Genes Affect Your Betting Behavior UC Berkeley
The Sister of Second Chances New York Times

Fitness: Hang Clean + Jerk
Focus on having your weight over your mid foot at the mid hang position.  

Performance: Hang (knee) Clean and Jerk (1+1) 1-1-1, then High Hang Clean and Jerk
Work up to a heavy single on today’s complex of a clean from the hang plus a jerk. Then back off to 80% for three singles from the high hang. 
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Front Squat

Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add 5-10 pounds to last week’s weight. 

Performance: 82.5% x 4 x 4, then 80% x 4 x 4
Rest less than two minutes between sets. 

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Wanna learn to paddleboard? We thought so! Learn more below!

• Happy birthday, Luanna S., Front Desk frontman Mirko B., and Endurance Wonder Coach Michael O.! 
• Come get your fish, veggies, eggs, and flowers! The CSA deliveries are today from 6-8:30pm sharp.

Get on the Water This Summer with CFSBK

What: Stand-up paddleboard lesson and tour
Where: on the Hudson River, launching from Croton Point Park in Westchester County  
When: 2-4pm, Saturday, Aug 16
$99 per person, cost drops to $89 per person with 6+ participants
Sign-up: email Mare at mare@crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com by Saturday, July 26 

This two-hour lesson and guided tour is geared toward first-timers and beginners. Instructors will talk about on-the-water safety, decision-making, essential safety gear, selecting the appropriate size and type of board, paddle selection, and basic accessories. The skills covered during this lesson include standing up on a board for the first time, lifting and carrying a paddleboard, launching and landing, paddleboard stance, the forward stroke, basic turning strokes, and stopping. No experience is necessary for this lesson but the conditions of the day (wind, waves, etc.), will determine the difficulty level.

For more information, check out our event page!

Become a Dog Whisperer: Training Your Dogs at CFSBK

Cesar Millan hasn’t got anything on Anthony Newman of Calm Energy Dog Training. Newman was New York magazine’s pick for Best Dog Trainer of 2013, and he’s visiting CFSBK to train your beloved pooch!

When: Saturday, August 2, 2014, at 2:15pm
What: a 90-minute workshop will meet at CFSBK and include obedience exercises in real-world situations, techniques for calm city walking (including a packwalk down to the local dog park), and followed by a Q&A
Where: your favorite gym
Cost: Specially-discounted cost for SBK: $55 per person/dog, which will drop to $45 if at least 10 people sign up

This event is open to CFSBK members and their friends and dogs of all sizes, provided they are basically social and non-aggressive. The deadline to sign up is Saturday, July 12! Email Mare at mare [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com to sign up, and include any specific topics you would like to see covered.  

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27 Places Straight Out Of Nightmares eBaum’s World
The Death-Defying Origins of Bungee Jumping The Atlantic
7 Myths About The Brain You Thought Were True ASAPScience 
“Sonder” Unused Words

Christanna S. deadlifting at dusk with David

• Happy birthday, Nolan G. and Chris P.! 
• Wanting those mad abs for your time at the beach? Check out KH’s Pilates class tonight at 7:30pm!

Returning After a Layoff, or “How Barbella Got Her Moves Back”

By Noah Abbott

Stupid, pesky life. Just when you’ve gotten on a roll—hitting PR’s, mastering new skills, dropping or gaining some weight—life has a way of barging in the door like Cosmo Kramer, and knocking everything askew. New jobs, new babies, injury, vacation, the beginning of football season, great happy hour specials—the road is littered with temptation and obstacles that seem purpose-built to knock you from your lofty perch of swoledom.  

So what to do? First and most importantly, get your ass back in the gym. Email us. Just show up. Walk through the door. Follow the programming and do what you’re told, even if you feel listless or without a real plan. Like Ol’ Greg Glassman likes to say, “The magic is in the movements.” Don’t worry too much about your time off, and just start moving again. 

Of course, this wouldn’t be much of an article if the only advice was “Come back to the gym.” It certainly isn’t always that easy, so here’s some additional stuff to think about:

A Unique Opportunity
Instead of obsessing over rustiness, lost gains, or WODs unWODded, let’s reframe your “extended rest day” in a positive light. Any nagging injuries or fatigue you may have been dealing with have most likely resolved themselves. Did you have any bad habits or movement patterns before your time away? You now have an opportunity to reprogram your body and reestablish good motor patterns. Commit to eliminating that early arm pull in the clean, scarecrow arms during double unders, or soft deadlift setup. Years ago, as a BJJ athlete, whenever I came back from time off, while I would feel undeniably rusty, my Jiu-Jitsu would always be more creative and explorative when I resumed. Old patterns, tendencies, and strategies would have fallen away, replaced by a sprawling menu of possibility. Zen Buddhists call this shoshin, or beginner’s mind—“an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.” Use your time off, and harvest that shoshin, intrepid Crossfit samurai. 

You Don’t Own Anything
One of the worst things you can do, both in terms of safety and your in-gym confidence, is to try and pick up right where you left off. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially if your numbers were trending upward, and it is incredibly tempting to try and resume your lifting progressions approximately where you left them. While you probably haven’t lost a significant amount of strength (most suggest somewhere between a 10-20% drop in 2-4 weeks), and you could probably will the weight up on grit alone, your body is most likely not prepared for the load, and the risk outweighs the benefits. “But I own 225#!” you say? Sadly, we don’t own anything in the gym. Strength and skill are perishable qualities, and at best we are renters, subject to the whims of those cruel and unforgiving landlords. (This should be a pretty familiar feeling for anyone who has ever rented an apartment anywhere in New York.) 

Similarly, it’s tough when being paired with classmates for racks to try and keep up with the same “crew” you had previously been lifting with and benchmarking yourself against. Unfortunately, while you’ve been out having babies or shooting your movie or whatever, they’ve been steadily plugging away, and at this point in time, they are likely stronger than you. Realize this is only a temporary situation, check your ego, and you’ll be reunited once again.

So, treat your layoff like a reset after a failure in a linear progression, even if you were cruising along smoothly beforehand. Take 90% of your last documented lift numbers or less—you really can’t go wrong starting lighter and having things be “easy” for a while. Don’t worry, they’ll quickly get hard again. Start climbing back up that hill, Sisyphus!

With conditioning work, things are simpler. You’ll feel pretty gassed for the first few workouts, and then progressively better. Take it easy for a week or two, and consider scaling movements to slightly easier alternatives until you feel like you’re fully “back.” If you are a heavy hitter athlete, who consistently RXes workouts and has taken significant time off, be especially wary of jumping right back into the deep end. Remember, in that deep end lurks Rhabdo—often ballyhooed, rarely seen, but perfectly suited to laying low deconditioned fit people with big egos. 

Welcome Back! 
Now that you are a little more equipped, come on back to the gym, we miss you! Remember, puhleeeeeze do not hesitate to ask the coaches about any component of your illustrious comeback tour, especially if its due to injury. We love that you are tough cookies and stoic, steely-eyed warriors and all, but we are happy to work out scales, subs, and other quandaries of the anatomical, theoretical, philosophical, and metaphysical variety. We want to be your co-pilot on your road back, but we can’t read minds (YET), so please let us know what’s been going on so we can do our best to help.

See you in the gym.

How have you relocated your groove after some time away from the gym?

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The Importance of Celebrating your Success Catalyst Athletics
The Overhead Squat CrossFit Journal
Stressed Out: Americans Tell Us About Stress In Their Lives NPR
≤ kg Radiolab

Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression 
Add 2 to 5 lbs to last week. 

Performance: 82.5% x 4 x 4, then 80% x 4 x 4
Rest two minutes between sets.  

Post loads to comments.
e5/6 
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Partner WOD
AMRAP 21 Minutes (one partner working at a time): 
3 Strict Press 115/75
6 Push Press 115/75
3 Strict Pull Ups
6 Kipping Pull Ups
200m Sprint 

Post Rx and time to comments.

McD and David installed a Big Ass Fan to keep you cool this summer

News and Notes 

• BREAKING NEWS: Not really, but there is a cool new post over on Coach David’s blog Inside the Affiliate called “This is What You Need to Know About Choosing the Right CrossFit Gym.” Since you’re hopefully already happily training at an affiliate (CFSBK!), we’d love if you sent the article to friends and family considering starting CrossFit in a different region.
• Another two weeks, another new batch of Lost and Found itemz. Collect your stuff by July 15, or we’re giving it away.

CFSBK Classifieds

Have you checked out CFSBK Classifieds yet? No, there isn’t a Missed Connections thread, but there’s all sorts of other neat stuff. This new forum will allow CFSBKers to connect with each other on the level of services, housing, employment opportunities, items for sale or giveaway, lessons and classes, programs, etc. It’s a result of our desire to find a better way to localize all the resources within our community. Head over there to play around and post (responsibly) to your heart’s content! 

Travel Gym Recommendations 

We also wanted to find a way to save all the recommendations we make to each other about other gyms while people are traveling, hence the new tab Travel Gym Recommendations (it’s also in the left-hand column under Member Resources). This will be a great place to keep everyone’s notes about their experiences at other affiliates, both good and bad. The United States West thread is currently in the lead with the most entries, but we know you guys regularly gallivant to the far corners of our globe and CrossFit, so fill up those other regions!

If you have any questions about either of these new additions, please email Kate at katharine [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com.

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The Secret of Effective Motivation New York Times
Burpee Equivalents: Junk Food in Terms of Your Favorite Exercise Spartan Blog
Beyond Training: Mastering Endurance, Health, and Life w/ Ben Greenfield Barbell Shrugged
This Aerobic Video Wins Everything