How You Do One Thing is How You Do Everything: The Push-up

In a former life I interviewed hundreds of eager candidates who sought to join a sales and client service team within a demanding, deadline-driven, constantly evolving services and technology industry.  Over the years I had culled my interview questions down to just a handful that seemed to work really well for predicting how that candidate might fit into the role we were trying to fill.  One concept we tried to investigate and use during this process was "how you do one thing is how you do everything."

Think about it.  You all have friends, family, and coworkers and some of them might be good examples.  That buddy you have who has an organized car that's always sparkly clean?  They probably have their act together at work and stay on top of their list of action items with a sense of urgency.  Your cousin who has months-old unopened mail and catalogues on her dashboard, and a half eaten pizza on the backseat?  I'll bet her email inbox at work has thousands of messages in it, and she "can't figure out why her email thingy keeps crashing" when her boss needs her to follow up with a client.   

In the gym, and with human movement, it's often the same thing.  How an athlete does one (basic, fundamental) thing usually indicates how they'll do nearly everything else.  The guy with the sloppy air squat, who doesn't work to correct it no mater how many times he's cued to do so? He likely moves poorly in just about everything else we do in the gym.  One movement we generally get a lot of comments from both newbies and experienced alike is the push-up.  We teach the push-up in On-Boarding and we cue the movement frequently in the gym WODs, sometimes to the point of bewilderment by a few.  But the truth remains-- how an athlete does this one thing is generally how that athlete will do nearly everything else.  Those that have chosen not to correct their push-up positioning or go through the period of "but it feels way harder when I do it that way!" have generally not progressed in push-up strength, stability, or muscular endurance.  Those who have?  Well, they're smoking folks in push-up WODs and are now the people I point to when I'm trying to get someone into the correct position.

Greg Everett wrote a great article a couple of years ago about the push-up, and I was reminded of it recently when observing some new athletes do push-ups in our free Intro Class.  His article - titled "The Push-up: Why Is This So Hard?" - is located here, and I've pasted an excerpt below:

The push-up is one of those things that when done well doesn’t draw much attention—it’s not a flashy feat of athleticism. However, in my opinion, how one performs a push-up is indicative of that individual’s athletic foundation, and possibly more importantly, how committed one is to excellence in movement and performance. Sloppy push-ups suggest to me a superficial interest in athleticism and a degree of laziness. Put a little attention and effort into the simple things and it will pay returns in the more complicated and interesting ones.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

WOD for 01-18-17: 

AMRAP 15 Minutes:

30 Unbroken Double Unders    

25 AbMat Sit-ups

20 Push-ups

15 Calorie Row

10 Power Snatches @ 115/80 lbs

-then-

Weighted Plank Hold:

3 x 0:45 (Forty-Five Seconds)

Rest 1:00 between efforts.

Curling Highlights

Michelle's answer to one of my QoD's made me think to myself, "What EXACTLY does a reel of curling highlights look like?"  As with many things in life, the YouTubes box had the answer for me.  Courtesy of our fancy friends up north who spell SportsCenter with the "e" at the end, get ready for some sweeping action ON THE ICE!  

WOD for 01-17-17:

Front Squat:

2x2

Across.  Add to your 3-rep working weight from 01-10-17.

-then-

Four 2-Minute Cycles For Max Reps:

200m Sprint

15-13-11-9 Hang Power Cleans @ 135/95 lbs

Max Reps Front Squats @ 135/95 lbs

(Rest 2 Minutes)

This is 2 minutes of work then 2 minutes of rest, repeated for 4 cycles.  The hang power clean reps decrease by 2 every cycle.  Your score is the total number of front squats completed across all 4 cycles.

What Happens When we Don't Scale

I recently came back across a blog post I originally read a couple of years ago courtesy of the good folks at Practice CrossFit in Ohio - it highlights the importance of scaling workouts properly, and is appropriately titled "What Happens When We Don't Scale."  It's a great reminder for all athletes, even those of us at Arena Ready who are generally smart about scaling and maintaining the intended stimulus of each day's WOD. 

Here is the blog post in its entirety:

I said ten-minutes and I meant it.

Most needed only eight.

“Ten-seconds,” I warned the only athlete in a class of a dozen still moving.

“Time.”

He spiked the bar, kicked the bumpers like they were flats and clawed at his belt. The rest of his class, a team victorious and eager to celebrate a hometown win, high-fived each other and avoided the pouting child of a man as if he had leprosy.

“I trusted you to pick the right weight, not necessarily the weight on the board,” I said. “Fail me again and I’ll load your barbell for you every time.”

Annoyed at himself and wanting to punch my audacity in the teeth, he said,”I know … I didn’t think I could do it, but I wanted that RX.”

We’ve all been there, tempted by two little letters, desperately hoping to improve. But performing the workout as “RX” isn’t always the way to get better. And when it’s all said and done, better is exactly what we want. Because my friend refused to scale his jerks – a movement he struggles with – he turned a met-con into a skill: exactly what I said not to do.

We may surprise ourselves when we don’t scale tomorrow’s training. Records may be broken and we may do things we’ve never done. But most of the time, like my irritated friend who let his desire overcome common sense, we miss the point entirely.

When we don’t scale, we turn fragile knees into smoldering coals.

When we don’t scale, we take 20-minutes to do a 10-minute workout.

When we don’t scale, tomorrow becomes a rest day when we should be training.

Fitness can be a fortress built on good decisions, or a shack plagued by shortcuts. You decide. 

-Josh Bunch, Practice CrossFit    

WOD for 01-16-17:

For Time:

30 Calorie Row

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

30 Box Jump Overs @ 24/20 in

30 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups

30 Front Rack Lunges @ 95/65 lbs (total, alternating)

30 Push Jerks

300m Run

The 2017 Open: What's Your Why?

Registration for the 2017 CrossFit Games Worldwide Open is officially live!  You'll hear much more about the Open in the coming weeks, as it's a always a big event at Arena Ready every year.  As with prior years there will be scaled versions of the workouts allowing the hundreds of thousands of CrossFitters who participate worldwide to join in on the largest fitness event around.  It's great fun and one of the most energizing times of the year at the gym.

Check out this video "What's Your Why?" featuring folks from all walks of life talking about why they enjoy competing in the Open, and what their goals are for this year's event.  Love the cameo by our old friend and O.G. CrossFitter, Tamara Holmes, at the end (she's the awesome firefighter).    

WOD for 01-14-17:

In Teams of THREE Athletes, On a Running Clock...

A) From 0:00 - 18:00

AMRAP 18 Minutes:

9 Power Snatches @ 115/80 lbs

12 Overhead Squats

15 Lateral Bar Burpees

(400m Run)

Athletes A & B complete the triplet with only one person working at a time (reps do not have to be split evenly) while Athlete C runs 400m.  One athlete must always be running and must always switch after 400m.  The team's score is rounds + reps completed of the triplet.

B) From 18:00 - 21:00

Rest 3 Minutes

B) From 21:00 - 33:00

Back Squat:

12 Minutes to Establish a 2, 4, and 6-Rep Back Squat 

Each athlete establishes EITHER the team's 2, 4, or 6-rep back squat - and the team's score is the sum of the successful sets completed.  For example:

Athlete A successfully completes a 2-rep back squat of 200 lbs.

Athlete B successfully completes a 4-rep back squat of 185 lbs.

Athlete C successfully completes a 6-rep back squat of 150 lbs.

The Team's score is 535 lbs (200 + 185 + 150 lbs)

In other words, the team must choose who is assigned to which rep scheme (2, 4, or 6 reps), and must load the bar accordingly for warm-up sets and attempts (the team shares one squat rack and one barbell).  Be smart and choose wisely.

Muscle-up Flashback Friday

A Flashback Friday to the time during the 2015 CF Games Open when our athletes attacked some muscle-ups, and Brain C documented it all in an awesome short film.  

WOD for 01-13-17:

Muscle-up:

Skills & Drills

-then-

4 Rounds For Time:

4 Muscle-ups

8 Hang Squat Cleans @ 135/95 lbs

16 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in 

January On-Boarding Starts This Saturday!

Our Winter/January On-Boarding for new member athletes is nearly here, and the free "Introduction to CrossFit" class kicks it off this Saturday at 12:45pm!  If you have a friend, family member, co-worker, or loved one who's been wanting to try us out (AKA they've been forced to listen to you incessantly talk about CrossFit in what sounds to them like Dothraki acronyms) then tell them to sign-up and get their butts over to the gym this Saturday.

For more information on the upcoming On-Boarding, and why it's so important to get in on it now if someone is interested (i.e. we don't do them often thanks to high member retention and an awesome, close-knit community that deserves attentive coaching), click here to read our post from last month.  Due to popular demand we've expanded the upcoming On-Boarding to include some extra spots, so there's still space for those who are interested.        

WOD for 01-12-17:

Deadlift:

3x3

Across. If possible, add to your 4-rep working weight from 01-06-17.

-then-

For Time:

800m Run

100 Walking Lunges

800m Run

-then-

Tabata:

Hollow Rocks

The Tabata interval is 0:20 (twenty seconds) of work followed by 0:10 of rest, and is repeated eight times.  Your score is your lowest rep round for the movement.

January Yoga

Yoga is back and Dani is leading two Sunday morning classes (in addition to her regular Monday evening classes) to get folks back into the swing of things!  January's Sunday morning Yoga classes will be held this Sunday, Jan 15th, and next Sunday, Jan 22nd, at 9:00am.  Regular, on-going Monday evening Yoga classes will also re-start this coming Monday, Jan 16th, at 7:00pm.

Remember that Yoga is available to all Arena Ready members as a part of your membership (there is no charge to attend!) - we simply ask that you sign-up for class in advance so that Dani knows how many to expect, and bring your own mat if you have one (we have a few to borrow if you don't).  All levels of experience are welcome!   

WOD for 01-11-17:

Alternating EMOM For 5 Rounds (15 Minutes):

1) 12 Handstand Push-ups

2) 12 Alternating One-Arm Dumbbell Power Snatches, pick load

3) 40 Double Unders

HSPU ninja, you say?  Then do them unbroken, obviously (same goes for the DUs).  Sill too easy?  Then do the HSPUs strict as well, and pick a challenging weight for the dumbbell snatches (but one that you can still maintain solid technique). 

-then-

Row Sprint Intervals:

3x500m

Start every 5 minutes.

Each interval is for time.

Take It Easy, LeBron

A freshly cleaned floor at Arena Ready followed shortly thereafter by a day of C2B pull-ups and KB swings is a good opportunity for 3 things:

1) Allow my borderline obsessive personality a few hours to enjoy the shiny floor.

2) Throw away the rest of that crappy chalk I mistakenly bought on Amazon because I was too lazy to get the good stuff from Rogue like I usually do.  Not making that mistake again.

3) Remind our athletes that when it comes to chalk to please keep it in the bucket... and that a little bit goes a long way.   

Another way of saying #3 is DON'T BE THAT GUY (OR GAL).

WHAT guy, you ask?

THIS guy.  And yes, that's Julian.     

WOD for 01-10-17:

Front Squat:

3x3

Across.  Add to your 4-rep loading from 01-04-17.

-then-

4 Rounds For Max Reps of Each Movement:

Kettlebell Swings @ 70/53 lbs

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

Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups

This is 0:45 seconds of work per movement, with 0:15 seconds of transition time between movements.  There is 1:15 rest between rounds.  Score by total reps for each of the three movements.

The 5 Hour Rule

Many of you are familiar with Malcom Gladwell's "10,000-Hour Rule" as made famous in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success.  Recently I read an article by Michael Simmons titled Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey All Use the 5 Hour Rule, which highlights how top business leaders spend 5 hours per week doing deliberate learning.  These 5 hours of of what can also be called "deliberate practice" enable these individuals to become (and stay) "world-class" in their respective arenas of business (AKA the world of work).

I, of course, couldn't help but draw the comparison to fitness and CrossFit.  5 hours per week of dedicated learning and/or practice in the area of fitness can be attained through 5 classes at Arena Ready, or perhaps a mix of classes and Open Gym time, or even CrossFit combined regularly with other training regimens/practices or outside sports.  It's a cool way to think of working toward becoming (and staying) "world-class" in the arena of life (AKA crushing it).  Such dedicated practice in the name of physical (and really, mental) capacity reaps huge benefits in context of the rest of your busy and rewarding life - relationships, family, career, emotional health, physical health, etc.  You don't do CrossFit 5 hours a week only to be good at CrossFit - you also do it to be great at life.            

The article is a quick and interesting read and can be found here - the author, of course, made his own connection of the "5 Hour Rule" to fitness and exercise in the article, stating:

We should look at the five-hour rule the same way we look at exercise

We need to move beyond the cliché, "Lifelong learning is good," and think more deeply about the minimum amount of learning the average person should do per day to have a sustainable and successful career.

Just as we have minimum recommended dosages of vitamins and steps per day and of aerobic exercise for leading a healthy life physically, we should be more rigorous about how we as an information society think about the minimum doses of deliberate learning for leading a healthy life economically.

The long-term effects of not learning are just as insidious as the long-term effects of not having a healthy lifestyle. The CEO of AT&T makes this point loud and clear in an interview with The New York Times; he says that those who don't spend at least five to 10 hours a week learning online "will obsolete themselves with technology."   

-Michael Simmons of Empact for Inc.com  

WOD for 01-09-17:

Power Snatch + Hang Squat Snatch:

5 Sets of (1+1)

Climbing

-then-

AMRAP 10 Minutes:

12 Power Snatches @ 75/55 lbs

12 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

12 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 75/55 lbs

12 AbMat Sit-ups

Sweaty Saturday Team WOD

It's the return of the Sweaty Saturday Team WOD!

Dude, were you standing outside in the rain?

No, I just did a team workout at my gym.  Like an hour ago.  It's sweat.

WOD for 01-07-17:

In Teams of Three Athletes...

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

80 Row Calories

70 Burpees Over Rower

60 Toes-to-Bar

50 Hang Power Cleans @ 155/105 lbs

40 Push Jerks

Only one athlete working at a time. Reps are shared and may be split in any fashion (does NOT have to be equally split).

Healthy Lifestyle Challenge

As we've done in prior years, we'd like to introduce a Healthy Lifestyle Challenge for the month of January - an opportunity to join the rest of San Francisco in buying chicken, eggs, green veggies, and all the other healthy stuff that was sold out at Whole Foods yesterday. Gee, thanks San Franciscans, we've been eating this stuff all along!

We remain opposed to New Year's Resolutions, and this isn't really about New Year, New You.  This is intended to be about redirecting any counterproductive habits that may have crept in given the higher than usual number of social events, delicious treats, and other temptations that are common during the holiday season.  Rather than letting yourself slide into these habits, the Healthy Lifestyle Challenge is intended to bring you back to the healthy choices you were making consistently earlier in the year.

We'll be keeping the same categories this year: More Sleep, Less Booze, No Sugar, Less Caffeine, More Water, and Nutrition Overhaul.

More Sleep: this category is intended especially for those of you who find it difficult to get more than six hours of sleep per night, and potentially for those who sleep less than eight hours.  Time and again, research shows the detrimental effects of insufficient zzzz's in terms of its effect on stress levels, metabolism, and general performance.

Less Booze: this category is intended especially for those of you who are interested in competing in the Open and/or those of you who have body composition goals.  Alcohol (especially in excess) is detrimental to sport performance, recovery and body composition, so really has no place in a serious athlete's routine.

No Sugar: Increasingly, the addictive and harmful nature of added sugar is hitting headlines.  We're not talking about naturally occurring sugar in fruit and other foods, more so sweeteners (including calorie-free sweeteners). For those of you seeking to improve body composition, and to get control of your cravings, cutting sugar out entirely for the month of January will be a challenge, but worth it.

Less Caffeine: For some responders, caffeine at any dose is detrimental to health, and if you're in that category you're probably not inclined to consume much caffeine anyway.  For the rest of us, caffeine in reasonable doses as an enhancement to an already healthy lifestyle is probably not an issue, but if we start to exceed roughly four (reasonably sized) cups per day, or start drinking it late in the evening, it can begin to have detrimental effects. If you've gotten in the habit of replacing sleep or water with coffee, this may be the challenge for you.

More Water: While the recommendation to drink 8 cups per day may not be as scientifically backed as I once thought, the guidance to drink enough to keep your pee relatively clear is pretty widely acknowledged.  Being chronically dehydrated is a known performance inhibitor - even being mildly dehydrated can have dramatic effect on performance.  That said, there is no advantage to excessive water consumption, and drinking too much water can also be harmful.  With this in mind, if you tend to pee on the yellow side, perhaps just getting to mellow yellow would be a good objective.

Nutrition Overhaul: If you've been wanting to try a Paleo, Whole 30, Zone, IIFYM, or other nutrition challenge, this could be the month to do it alongside other Arena Ready friends.  I am very opposed to crash diets, intended to dramatically alter body composition through unsustainable means.  As an alternative, I'm very strongly in favor of learning how your body responds to various foods as fuel and sources of micronutrients (or toxins), and trying to gradually change your habits (and body composition) through pursuit of healthier habits. If you're not on the Facebook group you may not realize I'm running a 12 Week "How to Paleo your Macros" program for AR members, and if you're interested in this challenge, but don't already have another idea in mind, please feel free to contact me, and I'll add you to the list!

As always, your score will be your self-reported sticker on your scorecard/calendar on the gym walls. You determine your criteria (i.e. whether you're completely avoiding caffeine/booze/sugar, or whether you'll allow x servings per week, or whether you'll get a sticker any time you slept more than x hours). It's not for us to draw that line.  Pick something that you think would be a healthier (and realistic/sustainable) level for you, and give yourself a sticker any time you reach that goal.

Finally, the challenge technically started on January 1, so feel free to backdate your stickers.  You can also enter as of today, and just skip or cross out the earlier days this month.  You can enter as many/few challenges as you wish.

Here's to creating a few new healthy habits!

WOD for 01-06-17:

Deadlift:

3x4

Across.  If possible, add to your 6-rep working weight from 12-22-16.

-then-

Alternating EMOM For 6 Rounds (18 Minutes):

1) 35 Double Unders

2) 25 UNBROKEN Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft

3) 15 Deadlifts @ 185/135 lbs

Kipping Pull-ups

The kipping pull-up is a movement we use in CrossFit which takes a bit of work to master.  If you've been at Arena Ready for a while then you've likely seen a basic progression for working toward a kipping pull-up.  If you're newer to training here you're aware of the fact that we prioritize building pulling strength, shoulder stability, and shoulder mobility prior to allowing a high volume of kipping.  Healthy shoulders are a good thing.

If you're still working on getting your kipping pull-up here's another great resource from Cherie Chan, whom Coach Sarah worked with previously on the CrossFit HQ Seminar Staff.  Check it out! 

We encourage practicing the kipping pull-up during Open Gym Sundays, and/or a bit before or after class, assuming the day's programming isn't already prioritizing kipping or higher volume shoulder range of motion (and also assuming you've already warmed-up the shoulder girdle and performed enough mobility or dynamic movement to be ready to kip).  

Be smart about how much and how often you practice, in light of your current level of pulling strength, shoulder stability, and shoulder mobility-- it doesn't happen overnight, so keep working at it, but think long-term!     

WOD for 01-05-17:

Alternating EMOM For 5 Rounds (10 Minutes):

1) 6 Bent-Over Barbell Rows + 6 Barbell Roll-Outs

2) Sprint 50m + Walk 50m

-then-

On a Running Clock...

A) At 0:00, For Time:

600m Run

30 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

30 Chest-to-Bar Pul-ups

B) At 12:00, For Time:

400m Run

20 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups