Coach Nick and Co. at the San Diego Crew Classic’s Masters C event

• Happy birthday to Greg A!

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Please Explain: Insomnia and Other Sleep Disturbances WNYC
Lauren Fisher at Junior Pan-American Weightlifting Championships CrossFit Invictus
The F-Word The CrossFit Journal 

Ring Inversion/Skin the Cat 101

30min NFRs:
2 Skin The Cat or Inversions
3 Bar Muscle Ups or 10 C2B Kipping Pull Ups or 10 Kip Swings
20 Calories Rowed
30 Second L-Sit
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CFSBKers reinventing the wheel 

• Thanks to everyone who came out for our Bike Maintenance Class yesterday! Mare reports that they learned to change a flat and adjust their own brakes (by finding the barrel adjuster and twisting it in quarter turns). If anyone is interested in a future class, email mare [at] crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com. Please wear a helmet out there, we love your brains.
• Back in December, David reviewed our programming cycles and offered advice about how to maximize Back Off Week, which started yesterday. Check it out, so you too can be all you can be.
• There’s a new post on Inside the Affiliate sharing even more of your favorite Questions of the Day. Check it out to relive some old favorites. Consider stealing a few to ask your coworkers, friends, and family in the interest of spicing up their mornings in the way only CFSBKers can. 
• Happy, happy Monday!

Rings Strength Class-April/May

Join guest gymnastics coach Ken H. as he takes you through four weeks of gymnastics strength training. This 1.5 hour-long class will incorporate different facets of body weight strength training and movement. Specifically, each class will be composed of three to four distinct areas: warm-up and active mobility, rings skill work (muscle ups, levers etc), body weight strength conditioning, balance (on hands and feet) and flexibility. Students will be asked to have a goal or intention to focus on for the next six weeks. Students can then focus on that goal outside of class.

Saturdays from 2:00pm – 3:30pm

4/12, 4/19, 5/3, 5/10
*Please note that this class skips Saturday 4/26.

Price:
$80 for 4 Weeks

Hurry, only eight spaces remaining!

REGISTER HERE, YOUNG (and old) GRASSHOPPERS!

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.

Can you remember where you were and what you were doing 10 years ago today? 
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The World’s Biggest Tetris Game New York Times 
Women Are Not Small Men: Essential Info for Female Athletes Breaking Muscle

Farmers Carry: 100m x 5 Trips. Go Heavy
Push-Up or HSPS Capacity Test: Warm-Up and go for a max effort set.
Sled Push: 50m x6
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Upcoming Programmings Notes:
Back off/Transition Week: 4/6-4/12
New Cycle Starts: 4/13

• Monday:  Bench Press + WOD
• Tuesday
• Wednesday:  Snatch + Back Squat
• Thursday:  WOD gymnastics based
• Friday
• Saturday: Clean & Jerk + FSQ
• Sunday: Deadlift (Fitness) or Power Snatch (Performance) + WOD

Joey B doing beach handstands in South Africa
“There is a funny story behind the one from Boulder Bay. My fiancé was trying get to the other side of the beach to take pics of the penguins, and once she got me doing this, she ran over to the other side of the beach. However, four French people saw me doing this and came over, and started trying to do these handstands. Other people noticed, and by the end, there were ten of us, none of whom spoke the same language, all doing handstands on the beach in South Africa. It truly was a trip of a life time, but I did not work out at all while there, and all I did was eat and drink, and Im excited to be back.”

Time to Sign Up for the Vegetable CSA!

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This is a Generic Brand Video Dissolve
Poop Transplants Minute earth

50-40-30-20 and 10 Rep Rounds Of:
Wall Ball Shots, 20/14 10′
Box Jumps, 24″/20″
Kettlebell Swings 1.5p/1p

B Scale: 40-30-20-10 reps for time
C Scale: Partner Morrison

There is a 40 minute cap on this workout

U.S. Army Specialist Scott Morrison, 23, of Blue Ash, Ohio, assigned to 584th Mobility Augmentation Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, based out of Fort Hood, Texas, died on September 26, 2010, from injuries suffered on September 25 when insurgents in Kandahar, Afghanistan attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his father Donald, mother Susan, brother Gary, and sister Katie.

Post time and Rx to comments.
compare to 5.23.12

Justin on 24″ Box Jumps

• Thanks to everyone who signed up for the Bike Maintenence Class today from 2:30-4:00pm. There is still room left so if you’d like to drop in today, just bring your $10 and show up!
• Want to switch gears a little? Don’t forget that we’ve got Yoga for Athletes with Coach Whitney today at 10:00am

Opportunities

Today’s workout is a basic triplet of three movements. The advanced version which is posted above contains 450 repetitions in total.  That’s 450 opportunities to ingrain and develop the motor skills and strength required to successfully perform these seemingly simple movements.  Will your first kettlebell swing look like your 96th?  Will your 100th wall ball shot include planted heels, full depth and a neutral spinal position?  Range of motion is only one component of functional movement.  When you initiate a movement, what happens between the start and finish dictate the adaptation you’re pursuing.  Soft technique builds soft athletes.  Lazy attention to details builds laziness inside and outside the gym. Virtuosity is defined in Gymnastics as “performing the common uncommonly well”.  Will you settle for mediocrity today, or will you pursue virtuosity? No opportunity is too small!
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Rack Jerks with Eva T
Nicole Carroll Goes for 15 bodyweight overhead squats

Coach Whitney’s furry companion, Penny Lane

• Check out the current lost and found inventory on our Flickr page
• New merch is in!! CFSBK is now carrying hats, board shorts and ladies training shorts all availble at the Front Desk. Get stoked!

Feedback Form Feedback

I’m (David) about to head off on a nine day trip to Europe with some friends to get tattooed in Berlin, see some doom metal in Tilburg, and appreciate some art in Amsterdam. I feel like it can’t be coming at a better time for me and am very excited to get out of the city and break my weekly routine for a bit. Trips like this are great for regaining some perspective on how and why we do things at the gym and taking time to consider the alternatives. Recently, I put out a feedback form soliciting member perspectives on how they’re experiencing the gym and I was so pleased to read through over 120 candid responses, some from people who chose to remain anonymous and others who volunteered their identities. It’s no secret that the gym has grown considerably over the last 18 months or so and with that have come some growing pains. As someone truly passionate about trying to provide a safe and inclusive atmosphere for people to train, I’m excited about our growth and all the peoples’ lives we’ve been able to affect in the process. As a business owner I’m also aware that growth can be tricky enterprise to manage and the quality, not quantity of what we do will always be the most important feature of a successful business.

Happily, the overwhelming majority of feedback was generally positive, but as one would expect there are always going to be significant ways to improve the atmosphere, logistics, and coaching quality as well as considering the diversifying training needs of our members. So what are we doing with all this feedback? Well, first off, every coach is going to read every single entry, which we will then use as a team to inform our discussions on how we can better serve you. We’ve already been talking in staff meetings about new ways of maximising training time within a class and considering the needs of veteran versus novice athletes. One example being how we’re going to modify barbell warm-ups and fitness versus performance programming as well as time management in the upcoming cycle. Gross changes will be gradual and no doubt with varying levels of success, but it’s our honest commitment to try and do the best possible job we can, attempting to maintain what has brought us so much success in the first place while staying humble and realizing there will always be areas that need work. The search for additional space also continues–not exactly an easy enterprise given New York City real estate and the very significant requirements of a gym interested in serious barbell and fitness training. That being said, we are always open to suggestions should you be aware of additional industrial space in Gowanus. The more options we have coming in on top of our own search the better. (Please send possible ideas to David AT CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com.)

Again, thank you to everyone who took a moment to fill out the form. We hear you and want you to know that your opinions are important and are being factored into the decisions we make as we continue to evolve this experiement that started almost seven years ago outside in a park under the subway.

Bike Maintenence Class Tomorrow at CFSBK

Springtime weather is around the corner and CFSBK wants to help you prepare for bike riding season! Bicycle Habitat will be bringing their basic bike maintenance class from their 5th Avenue shop to 597 DeGraw specially for CFSBK, 2:30p-4p on Saturday, April 5. Course will include:

You’ll be able to roll in your own bike to use as an example during the class!  The class will be more instructional in nature, but bring any bike tools you already have in case there is time for tinkering!  $10 per person, class is capped at 25.  Sign up and pay in advance at the Front Desk or just show up and pay day of!

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CrossFit and Autism: Walking out With a Smile Coach Brian C has been to CFSBK several times and is a friend of the program. Check out his awesome program at CrossFit Long Island
Got Kipping Pull-Ups? Scale up with the Salmon Ladder
Big Sugar’s Sweet Little Lies Mother Jones

Fitness

For time:
400m Run
15-9-6 reps of:
Power Snatches
Lateral Over the Bar Burpee
then finish with another 400m Run

Performance

“Amanda”
9-7-5 Reps for time of:
Squat Snatch 135/95
Muscle-Ups

Post time and Rx to comments.

Val’s Post 14.5 “recovery” position

Spring Cleaning with CFSBK

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How Kendra Bailey does CrossFit with one arm
Do you want a speciality wine shop in Park Slope? Sign this petition
Mom’s Story

5 Rounds of:
Bench Press, Heavy 5
Row 500m

Rest as needed between rounds. If you don’t hit all 5 reps on any set of bench presses your score is zero for that round.

Post all 5 bench press work sets and 500m row times.

Bekka P putting her fitness to good use by going surfing in Costa Rica

Bike Maintenence Class this Saturday at CFSBK

Springtime weather is around the corner and CFSBK wants to help you prepare for bike riding season! Bicycle Habitat will be bringing their basic bike maintenance class from their 5th Avenue shop to 597 DeGraw specially for CFSBK, 2:30p-4p on Saturday, April 5. Course will include:

You’ll be able to roll in your own bike to use as an example during the class!  The class will be more instructional in nature, but bring any bike tools you already have in case there is time for tinkering!  $10 per person, class is capped at 25.  Sign up and pay in advance at the Front Desk by April 3.

Athlete wanted for VICE

Do you like working out and blasting loud, aggressive tunes? If so, want to help a local music writer from VICE with a story about whether Oi!—a brutish, working-class offshoot of punk rock popularized in Britain in the late ’70s—makes you lift more, run faster, jump higher, etc., etc. All you need to do is listen to an Oi! soundtrack on a few workouts and report back on how the music made you feel. If you wouldn’t mind submitting a photo and answering a few follow-up questions, that’d be great. If you’re game for helping out, email Ken.partridge(AT)gmail.com.

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Join WNYC‘s experiment to track how the City That Never Sleeps actually gets its sleep. Use this app to record your sleep and waking times. Your data will automatically sync with the project site, where you can see visualizations of your sleep patterns and how they compare to others.

Science and Art meet at Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs
Meet “Slowmo” NYT

The Gym Needs Rest Too!

2014 Open Summary

Congratulations to everyone who competed in the 2014 CrossFit Open. This year 209,585 people registered for the Open, including 127 CFSBKers. This year saw a variety of twists to the programming of Open workouts and ended with quite a bang. Share in the comments what you thought about the programming this year, any overall notes on your experience and what you got out of it.

14.1
As many rounds in 10 minutes as possible of:
30 Double Unders
15 Power Snatches, 75/55

14.2
For as long as possible:

From 0:00-3:00
  2 rounds of: 
  10 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb.
  10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 3:00-6:00
  2 rounds of:
  12 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb.
  12 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 6:00-9:00
  2 rounds of:
  14 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb.   14 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Following the same pattern until the athlete cannot complete the perscribed work in the allotted time frame.

14.3
8 minute AMRAP:
10 deadlifts, 135 / 95 lb. 
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
15 deadlifts, 185 / 135 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
20 deadlifts, 225 / 155 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
25 deadlifts, 275 / 185 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
30 deadlifts, 315 / 205 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
35 deadlifts, 365 / 225 lb. 
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch

14.4
14 minute AMRAP:
60-calorie row 
50 toes-to-bars
40 wall-ball shots, 20 / 14 lb.
30 cleans, 135 / 95 lb.
20 muscle-ups

14.5
For time
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Thrusters, 95 / 65 lb.
Burpees

FINAL CFSBK Men’s Leaderboard
FINAL CFSBK Women’s Leaderboard

Special congrats to Bob S who ranked 5th place in the North East and 34th worldwide in the master 55-59 year old division. Also to Jacinto B who ranked 2nd place in the North East and 19th worldwide in the masters 60+ year old division. Note that at 74 years old Jacinto is giving up 14 years to many of his fellow competitors.
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Josh Bridges does 14.5 in 7:49
The Upstanding Desk is a Kickstarter campaign which ends this afternoon. The project converts normal desks into standing work stations at a very low cost.

AMRAP 10 minutes:
5 Push Press 115/75
10 Deadlift 115/75
15 Box jumps 24/20

Post rounds completed and Rx to comments.

Thruster Cascade

• There’s a new post on Inside the Affiliate about ancillary equipment we think is essential. Check it out
• Don’t forget, you can bring your olympic lifting shoes back! Shoe storage rules can be found on Saturday’s Post
• Have you filled out our Feedback Form? Please let us know what you think!

Why Join a CSA?

Are you curious to know why CFSBK supports the Community Supported Agriculture model? Our very own Margie Lempert, founder of the CSA program here and currently finishing a masters’ degree in agroecology at the University of Wisconsin, will approach that question from several angles in a short series of articles. The first outlined the differences between industrial agriculture and agroecology. In Part 2, below she delves deeper into the ethical issues of animal welfare, and makes an argument for the ways in which an agroecological style of animal husbandry supports both a more “humane” and simultaneously more “animal” approach to livestock production.

Animal welfare is an enormous topic in livestock agriculture; here are just two aspects to consider.

Cows, Grass, Grains and Gas

A cow was meant to eat grass, not corn, soy or gummy bears. Blah blah blah… heard that a million times… got it. Perhaps not a message worth repeating, but rather explaining.

Cows’ tummies are sensitive. Their digestion is complicated, and success is highly dependent on the microorganisms that colonize the rumen, a cow’s largest of four stomach chambers. In fact, those little microbes are doing the heavy lifting of breaking down feedstock into available nutrients. What a cow eats impacts the conditions of its rumen, which determine the success of one microbial population or another.

The most troubling and ubiquitous problem a cow can develop is rumen acidosis, which occurs when the pH level of cow’s stomach drops to become more acidic. There are a number of factors that contribute to acidosis, but diet makeup is one of the biggest. Fast digesting carbohydrates induce fast acting microbial fermentation, which lowers rumen pH. Here’s what acidosis can cause: lethargy, excessive panting, bloat, diarrhea, poor milk production, hoof problems, anorexia, liver abscesses, and death.

Fast digesting carbohydrates means grains. Grasses are cellulosic and starchy; grains are sugary and easy to break down.

The benefit of feeding a cow a grain heavy diet is that it fattens quickly, which we want in an efficient, high output system. On a feedlot, we can get a cow to about 630 kg in 10 months; on a grass-based farm it takes 22-24 months to get a cow to about 540 kg. The former is obviously superior for satisfying demand. But there’s that troubling side effect of making the cow sick in the process. Antibiotics are a handy prophylactic tool, and as a bonus, confer growth benefits.

There’s also the change in microbial populations to consider. E. coli is probably the one we’re most familiar with. All cows have E. coli in their rumen (people too), but an acidic environment is favorable for E. coli to proliferate and survive. On a feedlot, there are a lot of animals confined to a small space, so they inevitably muck around in each other’s crap. Without the use of antibiotics, we risk E. coli ridden poop getting mixed into our ground beef. In the commodity system, it’s necessary to protect animals and people.

In pastured systems, cows are eating food that agrees with them, so they suffer from acidosis far less often, and less severely. Animals certainly get sick, but vets aren’t on staff like they are on a feedlot. Use of antibiotics is restricted to an illness that warrants treatment, such as pink eye. (As a side note – the organic beef program does not allow use of any antibiotics, but that can pose problems as well.)

Animals Expressing Their Animalness

Aside from the difference in disease prevalence on a feedlot vs. a pasture-based farm, there’s this idea that part of what makes a system humane is the ability for the animal to express its natural “animalness.” This is a strange, but intuitive concept that I best understood when I visited a large-scale confinement dairy operation followed by several grass-based dairies in Wisconsin. (I don’t know if you realize this, but Wisconsin is big into dairy.)

At Rosy Lane, the 800 or so cows live in absolutely pristine barns the size of football fields. They are well ventilated, mostly free from flies and each animal has its own stall bedded down in sand, which helps to minimize mastitis. Cows come into the milking parlor twice a day where employees neatly attach rubber suctions to their teats to extract milk. Animals are monitored carefully with fancy instruments for any signs of infection.

Upon closer inspection, a few odd things emerge: first of all, these Holsteins are humongous. Absolute milk beasts. Identical to the point that they are bred to have evenly spaced teats so that the rubber suctions can be applied and removed quickly – getting them in and out of the parlor fast is a point of pride for the owners. Cows live in their stalls and don’t really go out except to be escorted to the milking parlor. They are fed grains and a cocktail of drugs to suppress associated problems.

This is an example of an exceptional confinement operation. Animals are by and large healthy in this system, but the system itself is based on the idea that these cows are solely a means to an end: high volume milk production. The farmer’s path to profit is to make more, which leaves no opportunity for the cows to be cows, only to be milk suppliers.

We have to walk a ways out into the pasture to visit with Bert Paris’ cows. The herd of about 80 are shading themselves under some trees; it’s a warm day, and it has been a droughty year so they are running a little leaner than ideal, but still healthy. Fortunately, Bert had made enough hay from his land to supplement the less productive grass. His cows are all different sizes and colors. As he explains it, the variety comes from cross breeding cows based on characteristics like temperament, ability to learn the daily routine and the right body type for the climate. These qualities are more important to him than “high producers” because he sees his cows as long-term employees who have to get along with each other and him, be reliable and adapt to seasonal climate shifts. Bert is part of a grass-based cooperative where members pool their milk to make high-end cheese. He doesn’t produce nearly the same volume of milk as Rosy Lane, but he can extract a bit more value from it by turning it into cheese and yogurt, and selling excess milk to Organic Valley. Bert sees cows as participants rather than vehicles for milk.

The two farms both want to maintain healthy animals, but with different perspectives on how and why. If livestock welfare is important you, how do you define a healthy approach? Do you think as long as an animal is free from disease, it achieves good health?

 Coming up next…. Environmental impacts

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Don’t forget to submit your 14.5 score by tonight at 8:00pm!

AMRAP 30 Minutes:
10 Toes to Bar or 15 AbMat Sit Ups
20 Russian Kettlebell Swings 72/53
40 Double Unders

Partners alternate complete rounds until the 30 minute cap.

Post total rounds completed, partner and Rx to comments.

Karl gets his 14.4 on with Fraiser as his judge

Meat CSA: Free gift for new members and NEW refer-a-friend bonus! 

We are having a special sign-up bonus for new members who join the Herondale meat and poultry CSA in the months of April or May.

New 15-lb share members will receive three of our most-loved items: a juicy NY strip steak, a pack of pork chops, and a pack of our legendary bacon. That’s in addition to the regular share – a $50 bonus! 

New 10-lb share members will receive a NY strip and a pack of bacon in addition to the regular share – a $35 bonus!

Refer-a-friend: Any existing CSA member who refers someone to the program will receive 2 packs of the brand-new Jacuterie bacon – choose any 2 from Jack’s great new flavors (maple, honey garlic, or Italian.) All are mouth-wateringly good, so refer your friends today! Write to csa@herondalefarm.com to make it happen. Remember, you don’t need to be a member of CFSBK to belong to the CSA.

Sign up here.

Questions? Email mignyc at gmail dot com.

Bring Your Bike Out of Winter Hibernation!

Springtime weather is around the corner and CFSBK wants to help you prepare for bike riding season! Bicycle Habitat will be bringing their basic bike maintenance class from their 5th Avenue shop to 597 DeGraw specially for CFSBK, 2:30p-4p on Saturday, April 5. Course will include:

You’ll be able to roll in your own bike to use as an example during the class!  The class will be more instructional in nature, but bring any bike tools you already have in case there is time for tinkering!  $10 per person, class is capped at 25.  Sign up and pay in advance at the Front Desk by April 3. 
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Risk Vsauce
The beginning of everything