What Do They Call Russian KB Swings in Russia?

A whole lotta' NASTY some of you would like to forget in yesterday's WOD, so today you get a picture of my dog, Bo, and a kettlebell.  It's all about balance - in life and in WOD blogs.  She has her harness on because the camera scares her - sometime in her earlier life (before we adopted her) she became terrified of clicking noises, so the shutter sound makes her nervous.  Jenny was kind enough to Photoshop the leash out of the background so she could look tough next to the kettlebell. 

Bo only does Russian kettlebell swings.  Unless she's in Russia, then she just does kettlebell swings.  Obviously.  

WOD for 10-05-16:

Strict Press (Cycle 2, Week 1):

***ADDING 5 lbs to your "Base" from the last 4-week cycle...

65% x 5

75% x 5

85% x 5+ (Max Effort, i.e. as many reps as you can safely make)

***FOR EXAMPLE: if you lifted 120 lbs as your 1RM on 08-30-16 then 95% of that (114 lbs) was your "base" during the last 4 weeks, so your NEW "base" is 119 lbs:

65% of 119 lbs = 77 lbs x 5 reps

75% of 119 lbs = 89 lbs x 5 reps

85% of 119 lbs = 10 lbs x 5+ reps (Max Effort)

-then-

3 Rounds For Time:

400m Run

30 Walking Lunges

20 Russian Kettlebell Swings @ 70/53 lbs

When Wellness Becomes Fitness

This is pretty cool to see - and with so many of our Arena Ready members being healthcare professionals, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this concept.  

WOD for 10-04-16:

Alternating EMOM For 4 Rounds (8 Minutes):

MINUTE 1: 10-14 Shoulder Taps (5-7 per side)

MINUTE 2: 7 Hollow-ups + 7 Arch-ups 

-then-

6 Rounds, Start Every 3 Minutes:

15 Thrusters @ 95/65 lbs

10 Bar Facing Burpees

5 Muscle-ups

Squirrel & Jeff at the 2016 Max's Gym Open

Kate "The Flying Squirrel" and Jeff G. both competed at the PWA's 2016 Max's Gym Open on Saturday, and both lifters provided some drama and an entertaining session!  Squirrel nailed her opening attempt for snatch and then had a PR clean & jerk attempt of 79kg/174lbs well over her head but just couldn't quite find the lock-out.  Jeff went 4 for 6 in his attempts, including a competition PR snatch of 95kg/209lbs and competition PR clean & jerk of 120kg/265lbs (with a close attempt at 125kg/276lbs) - not too shabby for a first meet back in over a year!

Great work, lifters!  We're looking forward to seeing some more big numbers this Fall as the gym looks ahead to the 2016 CrossFit Liftoff in early November (more info on that in the coming weeks)!        

And speaking of cleaning heavy...

WOD for 10-03-16:

Power Clean:

17 Minutes to Build to a Heavy Single

-then-

AMRAP 9 Minutes:

12 Air Squats

9 Box Jumps @ 30/24 ins

6 Power Cleans @ 205/145 lbs

"Antsy" Nancy

What was your first ever CrossFit Workout?

Mine was "Nancy"...

5 Rounds for Time:

400m Run

15 Overhead Squats @ 95 lbs

I did the workout on a track with a relatively experienced group, used 35 lbs on the bar, and it took me over 17 minutes.  It stung like nothing I had never experienced before in my life, sports or otherwise.  I thought to myself, "That's impossible at 95 lbs.  Just impossible.  No way.  These people are crazy."

Turns out it's not.  And they're not.  

It's amazing to come to work at Arena Ready and see newbies with that same look in their eyes that I once had-- thinking to themselves, "There's no way I can do that, ever."

And then, little by little, with consistent effort applied over a long period of time, that former newbie is doing what they once thought impossible.  And a new newbie is watching them, and thinking, "That person is crazy. There's no way I can do that, ever."

Saturday's Sweat-Fest will include a fair share of overhead squats, as we tackle a variant of the classic benchmark WOD “Nancy" - the reps are front-loaded toward the beginning of the workout in our “Antsy Nancy” version.  Every time we do the WOD “Nancy” - or some variation of it - I can’t help but think of that first workout, how far I’ve come since that day, and far I still have yet to go.   

REMINDER to come out and support Kate and Jeff at the 2016 Max's Gym Open on Saturday (click here for the original post, including meet location and session start times)!

WOD for 10-01-16:

Partner Medicine Ball Sit-ups & Russian Twists

-then-

"Antsy Nancy"

For Time:

25 Overhead Squats @ 95/65 lbs (no rack)

800m Run

20 Overhead Squats

600m Run

15 Overhead Squats

400m Run

10 Overhead Squats

200m Run

5 Overhead Squats

(Compare to 08-29-15; ALSO compare, for reference, to your "Nancy" times from 02-15-16, 01-10-15, 08-23-14, 04-17-14, and 12-05-13) 

2016 Max's Gym Open This Saturday

Two members of the Arena Ready weightlifting team will be taking the competition platform on Saturday, October 1st, at the PWA's 2016 Max's Gym Open in Emeryville.  If you're around this weekend and would like to watch some big lifts and cheer on our athletes - Kate "The Flying Squirrel" and Jeff G. -  then coordinate transportation with other AR members through the private Arena Ready Facebook group, and come on by Max's Gym (inside of CrossFit Oakland)!  

Meet location and scheduled session start times are listed below - good luck, lifters!

Location:

Max's Gym (CrossFit Oakland)

1313 67th Street

Emeryville, CA 949608

 

Session Start Times:

Squirrel - 12:00pm

Jeff - 6:00pm

WOD for 09-30-16:

"Lynne"

5 Rounds For Max Reps:

Bench Press @ Bodyweight

Pull-ups

This is not for time but move with a purpose.  Transition directly from the bench press to the pull-ups, and rest as needed between rounds.  Each movement is ONE unbroken max set - record reps for each movement by round, as well as your total reps across both movements for all five rounds.  

(Compare to 01-16-15, 04-18-14, and 02-28-13)

Tony! Toni! Tone!

Every time I hear the word "Anniversary" I can't help but think of the Tony! Toni! Tone! song of the same name and sing the tune in my head (and usually out loud, poorly).  Sarah and I actually saw Tony! Toni! Tone! perform live on one of our first dates, which (now in retrospect) I realize was really sweet of her... agreeing to humor my 90s era musical tastes since I'm a little older - and shall we say, ahem, a bit more "urban" - made all that working out super hard (when we first met) to impress her worth it, haha.  

Wednesday was our third wedding anniversary, and while I tend to keep things like that fairly private I'm breaking that rule a bit tonight - so bear with me please.  It was a bit of a hectic day for us on Wednesday to say the least, and life demanded that we both be occupied in some stressful activities for most of our waking hours - any other day would have been no big deal, but I'm a little bummed it was on our actual anniversary date.  The good news is we got to come into the gym in the evening and coach some fun classes, and she was able to train even though she was exhausted.

And so now, instead of blogging my regularly planned material I'm going to post a picture that makes me smile instead, and then try to enjoy a few minutes spent with my wife before it's no longer our actual anniversary.   

Happy Anniversary, Sarah!  

Funny thing is she left these weightlifting shoes on after the photo and for the rest of the reception, since they were more comfortable than the high heels she was wearing for the wedding ceremony. 

WOD for 09-29-16:

Deadlift:

12 minutes to build to a heavy triple

Add to your top set from 09-20-16 and 09-01-16 if possible.

-then-

AMRAP 3 Minutes:

3 Deadlifts @ 315/225 lbs

15 Double Unders

AMRAP 3 Minutes:

3 Deadlifts @ 275/185 lbs

25 Double Unders

AMRAP 3 Minutes:

3 Deadlifts @ 225/155 lbs

35 Double Unders

Rest 3 minutes between AMRAPs.  Change the weight during your rest periods.

Watch Coach Sarah & The SF Fire on TV Wednesday!

Juts in case you missed Sunday evening's television premiere of the SF Fire vs LA Reign match from the 2016 NPGL season, you can catch the re-airing on Wednesday at 2pm on NBC/Comcast SportsNet (Comcast/xfinity channel 721).  Set your DVRs if you won't be home so you can catch all of the action and cheer on Sarah and the Fire!

For TV airdates of all other matches you can click here for our prior blog post and/or here for the NPGL's full TV listing schedule of every GRID match from the 2016 season.  

WOD for 09-28-16:

ON A RUNNING CLOCK...

A) From 0:00 - 10:00

Strict Press (Cycle 1, Week 4 - "Deload Week"):

***Using 95% of your 1RM from 08-30-16 as your "base"...

40% x 5

50% x 5

60% x 5

***FOR EXAMPLE: if you lifted 120 lbs as your 1RM on 08-30-16 you would use 95% of that (114 lbs) as your "base":

40% of 114 lbs = 46 lbs x 5 reps

50% of 114 lbs = 57 lbs x 5 reps

60% of 114 lbs = 68 lbs x 5 reps

Yes, this may feel silly and ridiculously light.  This is a deload week and that's the whole point.  Just load the bar, get the sets done, and think of it as priming your overhead position for what's to follow...

B) From 10:00 - 25:00

Push Press:

3-3-3-3-3

Climbing as technique allows

C) From 25:00 - 40:00

Push Jerk:

1-1-1-1-1

Climbing as technique allows

San Francisco Forecast: Sunny With a High Chance of Man Feet

It's that time of year again in San Francisco - the stretch of a handful of weeks during which I try my best not to look down too much in public, for fear of seeing some gnarly man feet resembling hairy talons clinched to a pair of Rainbows.  Thank goodness the forecast looks to be showing some cooling trends starting on Tuesday, since Monday's reading on the SF Weather Advisory System was: HIGH.

San Franciscans can empathize.

I was at Whole Foods the other day being generally snobby and buying some nutritious fuel for a certain high powered athlete and her ruggedly handsome trophy husband.  The troubling amount of man feet I was forced to look at made me so nauseous I could barely locate the $7 coconut water my dear athlete loves so much.

Dear SF (grown, adult, gainfully employed, not in college anymore) men - really?!  Can we please retire the flip-flops as acceptable urban footwear, or at least reduce them to beach/pool/tropical vacation/public shower duty as they were intended?  I mean, really... it's not like it's 100 degrees out there.  I get it, it's nice out.  How about a nice canvas sneaker, or loafer, or boat shoe? Anything. Please.  And no, man sandals (AKA "mandals") are not okay and I don't care if they're Dolce & Gabbana - this isn't Europe, regardless of whether or not you insist on telling me "ciao" when we leave each other's presence, or sign-off all your emails with "cheers."  You don't see me trying to kiss your wife goodbye on both cheeks, so cut it out with the Italian designer leather excuse for wearing what is, in effect, a high end flip flop.  The linen man-pri pants should probably stay on the rack at Loehman's as well.  THAT'S WHY THEIR MEN'S STORE CLOSED, DUDE.  Or, let's make a deal, just clip your toenails like you've seen your feet in the last month - then maybe I won't feel like I'm losing my $11 kale chips the wrong way (Editor's note when re-reading this: I don't actually eat kale chips but it seemed fitting at the time for dramatic effect).

OK, end of grumpy old man rant (almost).  I'm officially a curmudgeon.  What can I say, I'm not a fan of the man feet.  If cargo shorts are the Nickelback of men's clothing then flip flops are the Dave Matthews Band - we're not late for Chem Lab and neither of us has a Scarface poster on our wall anymore.  So take a few minutes and put some shoes on, big dawg, so we can hang out and I won't have to pretend I don't know you.

Ladies, on the other hand, keep it up.  You look fabulous, especially when it's warm outside - just make sure to hit those heels with some moisturizer, ain't nobody got time for ashy.  Don't let the calloused hands fool you.    

WOD for 09-27-16:

Rowing Technique:

Skills & Drills

-then-

10 Rounds For Time, With a Partner:

250m Row

10 Burpees

You go, then I go, then we rest exactly one minute.  Then we repeat that nine more times.  Each round is all out.  

Fitness, Friends, Food & Wine

What a gorgeous and eventful weekend!  On Sunday afternoon Molly F. was kind enough to host about three or four dozen Arena Ready folks for a wine tasting and backyard grilling AMRAP.  Our resident wine guru, JP, poured some wonderful wines while we all noshed on delicious food under the "San Francisco Summer" sunshine.

Missed out on the gathering?  You (and by "you" I mean Arena Ready members) were all invited on the private Arena Ready Facebook group - so if you're not in the group (and are a member at Arena Ready) please click here and make sure you request to be added!  If you're not on Facebook well I can understand (and I applaud you for your abstinence), but it may very well be worth getting on it just for the sake of the AR group - you'll have access to all the communication, events, gym news, and nonsense that fill the group on a regular basis.  And you'll never have to feel FOMO again about missing a fun event or gathering with your swolemates and gym buddies.

I, of course, was a terrible gym owner and forgot to take a big group photo of the entire gang, but thankfully LGB at least got an artsy candid of a handful of those in attendance (thanks, Lindsay):

Looks like Monday will be another beautiful day, so what better way to start your week than a little vitamin D and some back squats?!  GET ON IT.

WOD for 09-26-16:

Back Squat:

12 minutes to establish a triple

This is NOT a 3RM.  Quickly work up to something "moderately heavy" prior to dropping the load to your working weight for Part 2 to follow.  Like percentages?  For most of you think 85% of 1RM or somewhere in that neighborhood.

-then-

Five 2-Minute Cycles For MAX REPS:

200m Run

10-9-8-7-6 Back Squats @ Bodyweight

MAX REPS Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

(Rest 2 Minutes)

This is 2 minutes of work followed by 2 minutes of rest, repeated for 5 cycles.  Back squat reps start at 10 in the 1st cycle, and then decrease by 1 rep for each cycle thereafter (the 5th and final cycle = 6 back squats).  Score is total number of box jumps across all 5 cycles.

(Compare to 12-29-15)

Sunday Yoga This Weekend

Since Labor Day a few weeks ago cut into our regular Monday evening yoga classes, Dani has graciously offered to do another Sunday "make-up" yoga class this weekend!  She'll be teaching the class on Sunday, September 25th at 9:00am - so if you're interested please sign-up as you would for any other class. 

For more info on what Dani's yoga classes entail click here for some details.  All levels are welcome and yoga is free for Arena Ready members - so what are you waiting for?  Do yourself a favor and help your recovery, mobility, stability, mental clarity, and maybe even learn a thing or two... get on it, and get in here on Sunday morning!

WOD for 09-24-16:

IN TEAMS OF THREE...

AMRAP 22 Minutes:

PARTNERS A & B Share & Complete:

12 Deadlifts @ 155/105 lbs

9 Hang Power Cleans

6 Push Jerks

PARTNER C Completes:

3 Rounds of "Cindy"

One partner must always be completing rounds of "Cindy" and must always switch after 3 rounds.  The 12-9-6 triplet is shared and can be split in any fashion.  The team's score is rounds + reps completed of the triplet.

One round of "Cindy" is:

5 Pull-ups

10 Push-ups

15 Air Squats

Fall's New Faces

You may notice a handful of new faces in the gym, as we have several new members who were CrossFitters from other areas/gyms, and will have a couple new folks on-boarding during our Fall intake of athletes (which starts this Sunday).  Since we only take on a handful of new members every several months as spaces become available, these will likely be the last new folks you'll meet before the new year.  So, say hello and get to know them a bit when you're in class together - just please also make sure to pay attention and listen to your coaches while doing so, haha.  Be your awesome selves and make our new athletes feel welcome as they join the Arena Ready family!

WOD for 09-23-16:

Alternating EMOM for 5 Rounds (10 Minutes):

MINUTE 1: 10 One-Arm KB/DB Overhead Squats (5R / 5L), PICK LOAD

MINUTE 2: Strict Muscle-ups, PICK NUMBER

-then-

AMRAP 8 Minutes:

4 Curtis P Complexes @ 95/65 lbs

8 Burpee Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

The Curtis P Complex is:

Power Clean + Lunge Right + Lunge Left + Push Press

Lift Light Weights Like They're Heavy...

... and heavy weights like they're light!

Over the last few months we've used weightlifting complexes to re-enforce the proper positions during the snatch and clean.  As a result we've seen many of our athletes make progress on "staying over" or "covering" the bar prior to initiating the second pull - and have continued to witness our folks improving their first pull from the floor, as well as the position at the knees (since we pretty much harp on both of those things all the time, haha).  

While drills and complexes help to ingrain proper positions and movement patterns during the lifts, another valuable tool is one's mental approach with the lifts - i.e. how someone addresses the bar, prepares their focus, and, accordingly, executes the controlled/violent/powerful/dynamic movement.  One relevant weightlifting concept that is very valuable for athletes to learn is to "lift light weights like they're heavy and heavy weights like they're light." 

I posted this video to the private AR Facebook group a while back and wanted to share it again here - check out how this athlete's speed/violence/aggression/extension is the same regardless of the weight on the bar.  As the weight gets heavier the only thing that changes is that the barbell simply doesn't go quite as high, thus forcing him to pull under to receive lower and lower (for his snatches the bar starts at 70 kg/154 lbs and ends at 125 kg/275 lbs).  Obviously he's not doing exactly the same complex we'll be doing on Thursday, but you get the point…

If you move slowly and without purpose when the bar is light, only to try and "turn it on" once the bar gets heavier, it's too late.  Over months and years of practicing and training this way you're simply re-enforcing slow and/or sloppy movement with hundreds or thousands of reps.  When the weights get heavy, and the pressure is on, the body will fall back on what it's used to doing.  So, instead, prioritize all those lighter sets and move with a purpose to train your body that speed and aggression is not an option... it's the way.  The only way.

Lift light weights like they're heavy and heavy weights like they're light!

WOD for 09-22-16:

2 Power Snatches + 1 Squat Snatch:

4 Sets of (2+1)

Quickly climb to your working weight for Part 2 below (or slightly above it).

-then-

3 Rounds for Time:

400m Run

12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups

12 Power Snatches @ 155/110 lbs

24 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft