Workout of the Day
Chris Moore: The Best Advice I've Ever Found
Those of you who have followed Barbell Shrugged for a while are familiar with Chris Moore and some of his writings. Sadly he passed away in June, but many of his fans and followers remember him through his essays and articles. One of my favorites was one he wrote nearly two years ago - here is the post in its entirety:
The Best Advice I've Ever Found
Most advice seems to apply to everything and nothing at the same time. One of the most commonly repeated lines has to do with your life’s work and purpose. “Follow your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
It’s a great bit of advice because no one will argue with it, particularly those caught in a bad gig or on a wayward path. We all want to make a life out of what we love most. Say the line out loud and you’ll feel the hope bubbling up in the back of your throat. But there’s a reason you’ll likely find some iteration of this advice in most motivational eBooks, life blogs and Tony Robbins keynotes. It’s an easy thing to say, but what do you do with it?
With endless options and indefinite answers it’s easy to feel paralyzed. But if you manage to keep reading and searching you’ll find other pearls of wisdom that resonate. Maybe you will find Oscar Wilde, who aptly wrote, “The only good thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
That could explain the endless flow of sugar-rush motivational quote-pics currently polluting your Instagram feed. It’s always easier to share advice than to take action.
I don’t want to bullshit anybody. I love a good sugar rush. There’s always plenty of room for pop, so to speak. But when it comes to figuring out how to get your shit together, or what to do with your precious portion of time, you should do what resonates. As Oscar would say, find something that is useful to you. Great advice should not only pop and inspire you, it should leave you with something real – You should be able to see actions that might fill your life with passion.
Like I said, I don’t want to bullshit you. And I don’t want to be guilty of dishing out shallow, generic advice. So, I’ll do the honest thing. I’ll tell you what helped me.
I’m a late bloomer, which is a quality that I’ve grown to love, mostly. But during the bulk of my twenties this was a burden. I had no idea of what to do, or what was possible. So I took all the advice I could get.
I tried to be all kinds of things – football player, doctor, professor, corporate team player, the list is long. It’s hard to say exactly when my passions stopped being the most important thing.
Along the way I was fortunate enough to find some advice that would eventually change my life. It came from Christopher Hitchens, a drunken contrarian journalist who also happened to be one of the most prolific, powerful, and honest writers that I had ever encountered. While addressing a crowd, Christopher was asked to give his best advice to young writers. This immediately resonated with me because a “Writer” was one of the things I hoped I might be some day.
The advice was crystal clear and actionable. “There are two kinds of advice for writers,” Christopher replied. “The first thing is that, if you want to write, it must be what you HAVE to do. Not the thing you want to do, or would like to do. It must be that without which you could not live. If you’ve got that much you’ll be alright. You’ll survive the disappointments.”
Christopher’s next line made be believe that I could actually improve, and that I could find a voice of my own. “The second thing I try to say to all of my students…If you can talk, you can write. The idea is to find a voice. I try to write as if I were speaking with people. In fact, I often hear from readers that they do feel personally addressed, which is vindicating.”
You probably don’t want to be a writer, but I doubt you’re exactly what you want to be, right? Some big goal remains. If that’s true, you might consider this same advice.
Don’t worry about everything you could do. Don’t burden yourself with the search for your destiny. Just focus right now on what you can’t live without. The thing you have to do. Get better at it. Do it harder, much harder than you think is possible. And please learn how to use your unique voice along the way. In the end speaking up for what you love most is a very important thing to do.
It’s not perfect advice, but I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.
-Chris Moore
WOD for 10-11-16:
Alternating EMOM For 6 Rounds (12 Minutes):
MINUTE 1: 3 Deadlifts, climbing
MINUTE 2: 12 Hollow Rocks
If possible, add to your top deadlift set from 09-20-16 and 09-01-16.
-then-
"Sugar Daddy"
For Time:
21 Deadlifts @ 225/155 lbs
400m Run
15 Deadlifts
400m Run
9 Deadlifts
400m Run
Workout courtesy of Ben Bergeron.
(Compare to 07-09-15)
Monday Motivation: Optimism
Optimism is everything. Because the alternative doesn't produce results and isn't any fun. Think about it...
-Gary Vaynerchuk
We've covered most of the above video's contents in class before, but it's a good little reminder in preparation for Monday's WOD.
Hope you all had a great weekend. Enjoy!
WOD for 10-10-16:
In Teams of Two Athletes...
AMRAP 18 Minutes:
40 Toes-to-Bar
80 Calorie Row
80 Burpees Over Rower
80 Front Squats @ 155/110 lbs (no rack)
40 Push Jerks @ 155/110 lbs
Only one athlete working at a time. Reps may be shared in any manner and do NOT have to split evenly. Yes, you have to use the same rower even if you'e in a small class, and even if you're partner has tiny feet and you are a Sasquatch - it's called teamwork.
Salute Your Shorts: Camp Anawanna
Last year around this same time I thought to myself, "Self, I really want to program a variation of the WOD The Chief..." since that was the workout Sarah and did on our wedding day at Arena Ready several years ago, and we recently celebrated our anniversary last week. Because I'm a nerd I thought about what to call it - a Chief obviously needs a camp or tribe of some sort... which made me think of the fictional "Camp Anawanna."
Some of you who know me are aware of my strange fascination with TV show theme songs. And if you're around my age and were lucky enough to have cable (or, in my case, a black market cable box from the shady guy that used to work at the cable company) you probably wasted many an afternoon singing this song.
IT'S I HOPE WE NEVER PART. NOW GET IT RIGHT OR PAY THE PRICE!
Thus ends my random tangent that has nothing material to do with CrossFit.
You're welcome.
WOD for 10-08-16:
"The Anawanna Mile"
4 Rounds For Time:
4 CYCLES of "The Chief"
400m Run
1 CYCLE of "The Chief" is:
3 Power Cleans @ 135/95 lbs
6 Push-ups
9 Air Squats
(Compare to 10-03-15)
Friday Barbell Therapy
Well, with some conditioning in there for good measure... obviously.
WOD for 10-07-16:
Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch:
5 Sets of (1+1)
Climbing as technique allows
-then-
Against a 9-Minute Clock for MAX POUNDAGE LIFTED:
30 Calorie Row
30 Push-ups
60 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
Max Rep Power Snatches @ "You Pick The Load"
You choose the load for power snatches. Your score is the total poundage lifted (reps completed x weight used = total poundage).
Evans Avenue Parking
Wednesday classes had me talking about the Evans Avenue parking option at the gym, since Wednesday 12pm and 4pm classes can be the toughest times during the week to find parking immediately next to the gym (thanks mostly to street cleaning up the hill). One option that's usually a great alternative (whether it be Wednesday or not) is parking on Evans Avenue, just off of Cesar Chavez.
Evans Avenue puts you just 1,000 feet or so away from the gym (through two crosswalks), and there's almost always plenty of free parking available - check out a visual orientation by clicking here:
WOD for 10-06-16:
Back Squat:
8-6-4-2
Climbing
-then-
For Time:
50 Double Unders
30 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
30 AbMat Sit-ups
50 Double Unders
20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
20 AbMat Sit-ups
50 Double Unders
10 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
10 AbMat Sit-ups
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.
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