Kettlebell Play Day

5 Rounds NFT of:
5 Dead Swings
5 H2H Swings (ea)
5 High Pull-to-Snatch Left
5 High Pull-to-Snatch Right
5 OH Swings

*Scale back for athletes without a proficient KB Snatch is to do 7 1-arm swings and 7 high pulls for each arm in lieu of the high pull and snatch

Post load to comments.

The Birthday Boy Transistions

Happy Birthday Coach Fox!

Join us in wishing Coach Chris Fox a very happy birthday!  Fox is a great trainer, mentor and friend.  Since coming to SBK he's worked tirelessly as an athlete and as a coach to make this a better gym and a better community and his contributions have been invaluable. 

Fox, on behalf of the rest of the staff and the rest of the community we wish you another year of health, happiness and fitness.  Thank you for all you've given to SBK.  Here's to many more!

__________________________________

Hoboken Winter Challenge Wrap-up

 Yesterday Birthday boy Coach Fox, Jess Fox, Josh M., and Dan L. went to war with some very tough WODs out at CF Hoboken as part of the Winter Challenge.  Not only did they have a blast but they kicked ass and repped CFSBK to the fullest.  Here's how they did:

Jess Fox-11th Place
Josh M.-22nd Place
Dan L.-28th Place
Chris Fox-32nd Place

Great job guys!!

__________________________________

Monday's another benchmark WOD. What's your strategy for the following workouts: Fight Gone Bad, Fran and Cindy? Do you break them down? Do you build in specific rests? Do you just go all out?

__________________________________

Carl Paoli's Gymnastics WOD GymnasticsWOD.com

For time:
Row 2000m

If you haven't please read Coach Nick's excellent write-up "Rowing a 2000m Race".  If you've already read it, read it again.

Post time to comments. 
Compare to 11.1.10 and 2.14.10 

Warm-up:
Accumulate 2 Minutes each of:
Hollow Rocking
Wall Quad Stretch (each side)

*Gulp*

Winter Challenge at CrossFit Hoboken

Good luck to Josh M., Dan L., Chris Fox & Jess Fox as they compete at today's 2nd Annual Winter Challenge!  Go get 'em guys!

Starting Strength Coaches at CFSBK

Congratulations to Coach Jeremy and Coach Shane who have completed the requirements for Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength Seminar and are now certified Starting Strength Coaches.  Well done ge

Coach Rippetoe and crew will be conducting their Starting Strength Seminar at Paulie T-Shirts' South Brooklyn Weightlifting Club April 15-17, 2011.  Click here to register!

__________________________
Diggin' in the Crates: What's So Great About a 2K Row? Urban Gets Diesel

Big Dave P. hitting the high pull

More PRs!
More Squat PRs from Wednesday night

J. Bails 160PR
Joe W. 250PR
JZ 220PR
Matt U. 185PR
Mike W. 215PR
Melissa 195PR
Marian 135PR
Nick K. 210PR
Rob N. 220PR
Rob H. 220 PR
Shaun M. 200PR

Hoboken Winter Challenge

Tomorrow Team SBK is heading out to represent at the CF Hoboken Winter Challenge.  We wish Coach Fox, Lady Fox, Josh M., Dan L. good luck tomorrow!  Have a great time and do us proud and we look forward to hearing of your successes over the weekend! 

_____________________________

New 8pm Group Class!/Saturday Active Recovery

Remember our newest group class starts 8pm this Monday, December 13!  See you then

Feeling the need for a little R & R after a big week of PRs and tough programming?  Active Recovery is every Saturday at 12p and every Tuesday at 6p.  Get some.

_____________________________

 So you missed that last lift by a fraction?  How do you recover from a failed attempt? 
How do you handle it when when you miss it by a mile? 

_______________________________

Strong is Beautiful Sicfit.com

30 Muscle-Ups for Time

Post time to comments.
compare to 9.7.09

or for athletes without Muscle-Ups:

15 Minutes of Muscle-up skill work followed by:

AMRAP in 10 minutes:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Double Unders

Post Rounds to comments.

Accessory Work
10 Minutes of Foam/Lax Ball rolling your nasty bits.

Extension. Thrice. 

____________________________

The PR Train Keeps on Chugging!

TONS of PRs today on the BSQ.  Here is just a sampling….

Pete H. hit a whopping 30lb PR on his BSQ w/ 195
Will S. made 250 look like a warm-up set. This up from 165!
Robin S. for 125
Ryan P. added 10lbs to hit 235
Willie N. fought for a 235. a 15lb PR
Becca S. got 165 a 5lb PR!
Jess F. 220 for a PR
Josh M. 320 for a PR

There are many more names to be called out tomorrow.  Fantastic work everyone both tonight and over the last few 8 exposures. 

____________________________

Seminars and Events around the NYC Area

Rob Orlando's Hybrid Athletics hosting it's next Strongman Seminar on Sunday, December 19th from 9am-4pm.  The Seminar will cover Stones, Yoke, Farmers Carry, Axles, Kegs and Logs.  If you're interested in adding strongman skills to your tool box register here!

CrossFit Virtuosity is hosting CF Endurance's Brian McKenzie on Saturday, December 18th for the Brooklyn Run & Performance Seminar.  Spend the day with Brian learning proper running mechanics and how to set up your performance for success with the correct scaling to understand where your success will start.

You will be video taped before and after and be given drills to learn how to run effectively along with proper queuing. You will then learn how to properly take this new skill and implement it into your own programming for success.

Also Tim Ferriss of the "4-Hour Work Week" will be doing a signing for attendees from 11a-12p!

Register here

____________________________

How do you prepare yourself mentally/physically for a PR attempt?

1-1-1-1-1
(E8/8) Find a new 1RM!

Post loads to comments.
Compare to 8.18.10 and 8.21.10

Accessory WOD
Tabata Row (For Calories)
Athlete's score is their lowest round.  

Post score to comments. 

Warming up for Power Clean PRs!

More PR News!

Ashely PC 165
Whitney DU 7
Steph P PC 140 DU 52
Jess F PC 125
Isaac W PC 115 DU 7
Justin Z PC 165
Marian PC 78  DU 3
Jess B PC 118
Dan H2 PC 120 DU 7
Greg N PC 135
BAZ PC 135 DU 22
Rob H PC 135 DU 7
Asta PC 85
Dave Byrd PC 185

And there have been two BSQ PRs already with Michael F. hitting a 25lb PR on his BSQ (215-240) and Nick P. hit a 40lb PR (225-270). 

Here's to even more new PRs tonight with BSQs.  Great work everyone!

_____________________________

Mo' Classes, No Problems

Beginning Monday, December 13 we'll be adding a Monday night 8pm group class to our schedule!

_____________________________

SBK Love the Kids!

Still have holiday shopping to do? Crossfitters Ari & Arlene K's son Eli's school needs your help! Shop at B&N online (BN.com) from 12/4 – 12/9 and use Bookfair ID #10258416 at checkout.  The Brooklyn School of Inquiry will get a percentage of every purchase.

_____________________________
Monday we're doing a CrossFit benchmark.  Which WOD do you think high-volume, heavy-ish squats might benefit best?"

 Colette K. is the life of the party.

 

Congratulations to all the athletes who hit PRs yesterday!
Some of the higlights include:

 

John J. went from 13 to 25 consecutive DUs
Vincent hit 97 DUs
Kate B. strung together 2 Doubles
MIke F. 27 DUs
Nino got 4 unbroken
Andrew C. PR’d by 15 lbs on the Power Clean with his 150
Charlotte K. hit a solid 135!

 

Don’t forget to put your new PRs and milestone on the accomplishment board!
____________________________

 

Sett(l)ing for a New PR
Coach Christian Fox

 

It’s Max Effort week at CrossFit South Brooklyn. That very special time when the practice and hard work that you’ve put in over the previous three weeks of the strength cycle comes, hopefully, to fruition. I really enjoy few things more than witnessing one of our athletes (and by athletes I mean ALL of you) PR a lift or WOD at our gym. Better numbers on the bar or clock are tangible success. That can be something hard to achieve in other areas of our lives, and as a coach it’s great to feel a part of that success. Just today I watched one of our athletes nail a PR on a Power Clean by about 15 lbs more than she thought she might. AMAZING! I recognize though, and you should too, that not every day is going to be a PR. Shocking, I know.

 

We’re always trying to get better, that’s why we dutifully records metrics in CrossFit. But sometimes, sh*t happens. There are any number of things that can interfere with a good training session, especially for a population that isn’t getting paid to train, recover, and perform. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, injury, stress, not warming up properly, or just not being able to “get your head in the game” can all negatively affect a training session. And, when we have lives outside of CrossFit, these things can be hard to control. When this happens try not to beat yourself up about it. Instead try to learn from it. Move on. Try to recognize what went wrong and see if you can control that factor next time around. In the end, getting down about a disappointing performance will not do any good at all. “Onwards and upwards”, as the saying goes.

 

Just as much as witnessing a PR is one of my greatest joys as a coach, seeing someone get down about their PR can drive me nuts. I’ve seen it too many times, an athlete thinking they should have been faster and/or stronger and not enjoying the moment. “It’s only a 5 lb PR”…A PR is a PR, whether by 1 lb or 10 lbs (or 2 seconds or 2 minutes). Heck, experienced Olympic lifters know that ½ kg can make all the difference in a competition and game it accordingly. As your training age increases, PRs become harder and harder to come by. A 5 lb PR on the snatch for example, is HUGE. You can ride those 5 lbs all year long! Additionally, keep in mind the percentage of the total that the PR represents. If you had an 8 minute Fran before and then do it at 7:45 that’s less than 4% better but huge in terms of a 15 second PR. If your clean goes from 95 to 100 lbs that’s better than a 5% increase, and again huge. It’s easy to think of increases only happening in terms of plates on the bar…95 to 115, 115 to 135, using the next set of bumpers. Don’t be that person. Don’t get caught up in that, it’s an ego trip and can be destructive to a successful fitness career. We have fractional plates at CFSBK that allow for increases as small as ½ lb on the bar, use them. Don’t get stuck failing at 135 lbs, instead try for 131 or 132 lbs. A PR is a PR and it represents progress and tangible success. That’s why we track all those metrics, remember?

 

Remember to keep this stuff in perspective with the other areas of your life. We’re trying to be fit for life. A few bad days at the gym will not make or break that, and you can ride the really good days for a long while. Your time at CrossFit should be like adult swim. It’s your playtime and should be fun. We coaches do our best to keep it that way.

 

 Three cheers to PRs!!! or not. And, to having fun while working toward them.
____________________________

 

Carol Dweck’s Attitude Chronicle of Higher Education

1-1-1-1-1
(E4/4) Find a new 1RM! 

Post loads and PRs to comments.
Compare to 11.15.10 and  8.9.10

Accessory Work
Athletes will have 12 minutes to hit a new Double Under PR.

Avi S. gets a new PR!

Hercules! Hercules!

Congratulations to Paulie S., Avi S., Jack L. and Coach Jeremy on a successful powerlifting meet.  The weeks and months of hard work paid off big time! 

All hitting PRs!
 

Squat/Bench/Deadlift
Avi 435/259/507
Paulie 474/303/573
Jeremy 374/275/452

Jack hit a couple of misses due to technical errors but will be back in the saddle again next go 'round! 

Great work everyone! Way to represent SBK!
_____________________________

Fight Gone Bad T-Shirt Reminder

You worked so hard raising all that money for some great causes and now all you've got to do is come in and grab your shirt.  Please pick yours up this week and cross your name off the list.   

If You Kill it, Refill It

Congratulations on doing your part to end Global Dehydration please don't forget to refill the water pitcher in the fridge! 

-Gracias, el Management
_____________________________

Inspired SBKs strong men and women? Learn how to get ready for your first meet  StartingStrength.com
Diggin' in the Crates: Buddy Lee on Double Unders Crossfit.com
Diggin' in the Crates II: Buddy Lee Rope Simulation (Can you spot the three original CFSBK coaches?) Crossfit.com

As Many Rounds as possible in 10 Minutes of:
10 Ring Dips
20 Kettlebell Swings, 24kg/16kg

Rest 5 minutes, then:

As Many Rounds as possible in 10 Minutes of:
10 Pull-Ups
20 Burpees

Post total rounds completed in each WOD and Rx to comments.

Margie's African Safari Handstand!

Where have you traveled to?  What has been your favorite experience abroad?

75%x3x3
(Deload exposure)

Post loads to comments.
use 75% of 11.13.10

3 Rounds for max reps of:
1 Minute, Row for Calories
1 Minute, Wall Ball Shots, 20lb/14lb, 10'
1 Minute, Box Jumps, 20"
1 Minute Rest

Post total reps per movement and overall to comments.

Check out this amazing video commemorating Matt U's incredible fund raising efforts for Fight Gone Bad 5!

Good luck to Paulie S, Jack L, Avi S and Coach Jeremy who will be competing in a USAPL (powerlifting) meet this weekend!  Each of these guys will attempt to break PR's in the Back Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press. GO TEAM!!!!

_________________
Matt U set a goal for Fight Gone Bad and completely exceeded it.  He had a tangible goal and incentives to help him reach that goal.  That being said, it's now December, what are everyone's short term goals for this month?? Post to comments AND to the goals board at the gym!

Sarah Haskins!

 

Man, these months really fly by. December is here and that means it’s time to crown a new Athlete of the Month! This was a real no-brainer. In fact, if we had co-AOMs this dame might have shared the title in a previous month. Good people of CFSBK, I give you Sarah Haskins! Sarah is another OG SBKer who has been CrossFitting with us for over 2 years now. It took her some time to get in though, as you’ll read. With the other athlete’s who’ve been featured so far, all I did was ask them to meet with me to talk at the gym, no real reason. With Sarah, however, I figured I needed an excuse because I knew she’d ask why. I had to dupe her and tell her it was about the gym’s involvement in the Ragnar Relay team she’s captaining this year. She was suspicious though…

Fox – Thanks for meeting me and for staying late, Sarah. I lied to you about why we’re meeting…You’re our December Athlete of the Month!

Sarah – (sinks into couch) Why me? Man, you really need to work on your approach. I couldn’t sleep last night. I was nervous. I hoped this wasn’t why we were meeting.

Fox – Uh…huh?

Sarah – Jess (Bailey) had so many interesting things to say, I’ve got nothing interesting!

Fox – You’ll be fine.  Let’s start at the beginning. How did you start CrossFit?

Sarah – I had gone with Paul (Sarah’s husband) when he did Murph with CFSBK in Prospect Park in May ’08. He had been at CFNYC for a bit and then heard about David and CrossFit South Brooklyn. Paul had been urging me to join for a few months. Murph, and then Fight Gone Bad in September, were my first impressions of CrossFit. I thought it was crazy but I was intrigued.  I remember some of the girls, Steph Paddock and Margie, doing the workouts and that was very inspiring, made it seem less macho. I thought about it a while before signing up for Foundations, six months actually. I did Foundations in November 2008, and then promptly signed up for 5x/week.

Fox – Right into 5 days a week? Serious.

Sarah – I had thought about it for so long that I already knew it was what I wanted. I liked that it was scaleable and that I could track progress and it would have variety. I didn’t need to think about it anymore.

Fox – What were you coming to us from, fitness-wise?

Sarah – I was a runner, and had done a few ½ marathons and the NYC marathon. I was overweight though. After that I did this hip-hop dance class for a while. It wasn’t exercise for me because I couldn’t do the moves! I felt really uncoordinated. I eventually went on a diet and lost weight but still didn’t feel fit. I was looking to be fit. Enter, CrossFit.

Fox – So your goal when you came in was to be fit. What about now? Still the same or have your goals evolved?

Sarah – I do CrossFit, so I want to be better at CrossFit! I’ve had bad experiences with deadlifts so I want to improve there. I want to work on pushing myself as well. That’s a mental hurdle, to get into that uncomfortable zone and stay there. I used to feel really awkward on barbell cleans, but now I have a better understanding of the lift so that’s getting better too. Really more specifically I should say I want to get better at CrossFit South Brooklyn-ing. I’ve never looked at the CF mainsite or any other box. SBK is what I do, and I want to get better at all of it. When people talk about drama with this-or-that CrossFit thing I have no idea what they mean. I love our community and our coaches. People are really nice and I see how hard you guys work behind the scenes. It’s unlike what I’ve experienced elsewhere.

Fox – One thing we coaches admire about you is your excellent training habits. You get in on time and self prep a bit. You pay attention when a WOD or lift is being taught and do your best to respond to cueing. You ALWAYS know what you did and when you did it because you journal diligently. Talk a bit about that.

Sarah – I am pretty anal about stuff like that. I like to be organized. How else do you see progress and make informed decisions going forward? That’s one of the big appeals of CrossFit, tracking progress. Without that it’s just working out.

Fox – You’re near the end of a Strength Cycle. What’s that like? Any benefit’s yet.

Sarah – Well I’m stronger! I want to see if and how it benefits me when I go back to group classes. It’s great being in an intimate group with intimate coaching. It also helps you mentally prepare because you know what you’re doing Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next 8 weeks. It helps me to push a bit because if Jeremy says I’m squatting 145x5x3, I squat 145x5x3. I’ve had a hard time getting there on my own in group class where I can more easily shy away from heavy and opt for less on the bar.

Fox – Well not any more, Sarah. We’re on alert. Alright, tell me a bit about you outside of CrossFit. You’ve already revealed your hip-hop dancing past, which I couldn’t have guessed. What else is there?

Sarah – Well you know this, but I do hand embroidery. I started an embroidery group that meets monthly. I have a 3-year-old King Charles spaniel named Milo that Paul and I adore. I love chicken liver, and the only band in my ears is Morphine. Also, I pay the bills as a programmer for the city where I make digital online maps.

Fox – Tell me about the CFSBK Ragnar Relay team that you’re captaining. What’s that about?

Sarah – CrossFit has really opened my eyes to how much fun it can be to try new things, particularly physical things.  I read Born to Run over the summer and decided I wanted to run an ultra.  Then I decided that might be a bit ambitious and maybe I could start with a relay instead.  I'm thrilled to have enough interest to have put the team together. From what I'm told Ragnar is part race and part party.  And when else will you have the opportunity to run from the Catskills to NYC?  We have one slot left if anyone is interested!

Fox – Last thing. What should we look for in a future CFSBK Athlete of the Month?

Sarah – Someone who’s inspirational and friendly. I think of people like Ryan who never seems to stop working, and Asta and Ariel who would never let someone walk into the gym and not be spoken to.  Someone who makes group class less intimidating. It can be intimidating.

Fox – Awesome, Sarah! Congrats again, we’re so proud of you. Thanks again for waiting for me, and not being mad about me lying to you.

Huge congratulations to Sarah on earning December’s CFSBK Athlete of the Month spot! We think you’re a pretty good example of the qualities you said we should look for in an athlete for next month. We’re looking forward to seeing you progress at SBK and beyond. And, we hope you and your team rock the Ragnar!

Sarah’s websites:
bklynembroidery.com
gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap