Workout of the Day
Tuesday "Main Site" Fun (Again!)
Last Tuesday we did a WOD straight from the CrossFit.com "main site" which involved TEN 1-minute rounds of 25 air squats and max reps clean & jerks. This Tuesday we'll do another "main site" WOD with a very similar round/time format -- but this time it's lateral bar burpees and power snatches.
We anticipate that far fewer athletes will be able to do this WOD "Rx/Black level" as the equivalent loading on a power snatch "feels" heavier to most versus the (power) clean & (push) jerk. Don't fret, just scale the loading appropriately to "something you can do for 5 reps unbroken with good technique" -- that should maintain the intended stimulus across all levels regardless of loading.
Enjoy!
WOD For 07-31-18:
TEN 1-Minute Rounds of:
10 Lateral Bar Burpees
Max Reps Power Snatches @ 155/105 lbs
(Rest 2 Minutes Between Rounds)
Your score is the total number of power snarch reps completed.
Yes, some have done this as bar-facing burpees and others as lateral over the bar. We will do the latter like is this video here.
(Workout courtesy of CrossFit.com)
The CrossFit Games: Aug 1st - 5th
The 2018 CrossFit Games "world finals" is upon us this week and it should be an exciting time to watch it all go down in Madison, WI. For all the details on how to view the week's events click here to see BarBend's full detail of watching options.
There's sure to be some awesome action from the Teams, Masters, and Teens categories as some of the events have already been released - and several look like a helluva lotta fun to watch. The Individual Men's competition may be the closest we've ever experienced to a "sure thing" (even more so than during the reign of Rich Froning) as two-time defending champion, Mat Fraser, seems to be in a universe of his own... BUT as the saying goes that's why they play the games. Anything can happen!
Most of us are probably most looking forward to the Individual Women's competition and watching the drama unfold in this super-competitive field of athletes. There are likely 5-8 women who are capable of winning the whole thing, and seeing the leaderboard shift and the points race get tight as the final Sunday approaches will be a blast. Who's your pick to win (and who is your dark horse to make the podium)?
WOD For 07-30-18:
1 Power Clean + 3 Push Presses:
12 minutes to build to a top set
Add to 07-16-18 if possible.
-then-
3 Rounds For Time:
35 Air Squats
20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
15 Push Presses @ 115/75
The Single Decision
Tim Ferriss' book Tools of The Titans includes an interaction between the author and coach Christopher Sommer, former men's gymnastics national team coach, who explains the value of "the single decision." It's a great section of the book and we wanted to (re)share it here with you:
We all get frustrated. I am particularly prone to frustration when I see little or no progress after several weeks of practicing something new. Despite Coach Sommer’s regular reminders about connective-tissue adaptations taking 200 to 210 days, after a few weeks of flailing with “straddle L extensions,” I was at my wits’ end. Even after the third workout, I had renamed them “frog spaz” in my workout journal because that’s what I resembled while doing them: a frog being electrocuted.
Each week, I sent Coach Sommer videos of my workouts via Dropbox. In my accompanying notes at one point, I expressed how discouraging it was to make zero tangible progress with this exercise. Below is his email response, which I immediately saved to Evernote to review often.
It’s all great, but I’ve bolded my favorite part:
“Dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress is an integral part of the path towards excellence. In fact, it is essential and something that every single elite athlete has had to learn to deal with. If the pursuit of excellence was easy, everyone would do it. In fact, this impatience in dealing with frustration is the primary reason that most people fail to achieve their goals. Unreasonable expectations time-wise, resulting in unnecessary frustration, due to a perceived feeling of failure. Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process.
The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home.
A blue collar work ethic married to indomitable will. It is literally that simple. Nothing interferes. Nothing can sway you from your purpose. Once the decision is made, simply refuse to budge.
Refuse to compromise.
And accept that quality long-term results require quality long-term focus. No emotion. No drama. No beating yourself up over small bumps in the road. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the process. This is especially important because you are going to spend far more time on the actual journey than with those all too brief moments of triumph at the end.
Certainly celebrate the moments of triumph when they occur. More importantly, learn from defeats when they happen. In fact, if you are not encountering defeat on a fairly regular basis, you are not trying hard enough. And absolutely refuse to accept less than your best.
Throw out a timeline. It will take what it takes.
If the commitment is to a long-term goal and not to a series of smaller intermediate goals, then only one decision needs to be made and adhered to. Clear, simple, straightforward. Much easier to maintain than having to make small decision after small decision to stay the course when dealing with each step along the way. This provides far too many opportunities to inadvertently drift from your chosen goal. The single decision is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.”
-From "Tools of The Titans" by Tim Ferriss
WOD For 07-28-18:
"Controlled Chaos"
In Teams of THREE, For Time:
A) All Three Working At The Same Time, Each on a Different Movement:
150 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
125 Calorie Row (FMM = 115 Cal, FFM = 105 Cal , FFF = 95 Cal)
100 Lateral Bar Burpees
B) One Person Working at a Time, Completed in Order as Written (i.e. 75-50-25):
75 Power Cleans @ 115/80 lbs
50 Power Snatches
25 Squat Clean Thrusters
For Part A game plan how your team will split the work into pre-set rounds & reps with planned transitions. For example:
5 Rounds of...
Athlete A - 30 Wall Balls
Athlete B - 25 Calorie Row
Athlete C - 20 Lateral Bar Burpees
(Everyone rotates to repeat this 5 times until Part A is complete)
For Part B there is only one person working at a time, and reps can be split in any fashion as long as the movements are completed in order as written (75 > 50 > 25). We recommend smaller sets and quick transitions to keep the pace as fast as possible with good technique.
Grunt All You Want
It's Friday, and we won't kick you out or sound the "Lunk Alarm" for trying hard. But we will if your technique looks like a Tootsie Roll and you drop our dumbbells. The former is a euphemism for poop (you know, because they serve Tootsie Rolls in bowls at Planet Fitness... aaaand they look like little poops AKA horrible deadlifts... is this thing on?!) and the latter should be easy because WE'RE NOT EVEN USING DUMBBELLS ON FRIDAY.
I would've kicked them out just on the basis of the one guy wearing cargo shorts to the gym.
Cargo shorts, the Nickelback of clothing.
Happy Friday!
WOD For 07-27-18:
For Completion and Load (NOT For Time):
Bench Press:
5-5-5-5-5
Deadlift:
5-5-5-5-5
5-5-5-5-5
*Go from one movement directly to the next (e.g. 5 Bench Press > 5 Deadlifts > 5 Evil Wheels) with as much or as little rest between sets as you like. If you're a ninja at Evil Wheels, and the volume is not an issue, increase the reps for that movement to 8 or 10 per set.
*Warm-up to a challenging weight for both the bench and dead before "starting" your first work set. Climb in weight as long as your technique allows you to do so (i.e. like you care about your shoulders and back).
The "August Open Gym Challenge"
Presenting the "Arena Ready August Open Gym Challenge"... with an early release which gives you an extra Sunday in July to complete the workout!
The rules are simple:
1) Workout must be completed during Open Gym on Sunday
2) Someone else other than you and your partner vouches for your time LOL (sorta kidding, I trust all of you)
Here's the workout:
"AR 3-2-1 Cardio"
With a Partner For Time:
3000m Row (switch every 250m)
2000m Ski (switch every 250m)
100 Calorie Assault Bike (switch whenever you like)
Only one person working at a time (obviously), and you must share the same rower, skierg, and bike.
On August 26th Sarah and I will attempt to beat the fastest time, and if we can't succeed that fastest team gets bragging rights and an exciting prize pack valued at over 1,000 Philippine Pisos.
Come on now! Surely you can beat and old fart with a bionic hip and a lady who just had a baby!
WOD For 07-26-18:
Alternating EMOM For 6 Rounds (24 Minutes):
1) 4 Back Squats @ pick load
2) 8 Box Jumps @ 30/24 in
3) Max Calorie Row
4) REST
Record loading used for back squats and total calories rowed.
You pick the loading for the squats - they can be "6x4 across" or "4s climbing" as long as your technique is solid. Still feeling Tuesday's WOD? Then go lighter and make every rep perfect. Didn't do Tuesday, or did but felt recovered after Wednesday's workout? Then go heavier by feel.
The box jumps are intended to be done with measured explosiveness and not rushed.
The row is your wildcard. Go hard and fast to make the WOD spicy. Stay brisk and smooth if you need the recovery.
Wednesday One-Two Punch
Tuesday's WOD may have your squatting legs feeling it - so come in on Wednesday to get the blood flowing with some complimentary EMOM movements that prioritize stability and position over speed and loading.
Then, much the opposite of Tuesday, our met-con is short, fast, and sweet - with no barbell in sight. Advanced athletes will basically be moving quickly the entire time for 7 minutes (can you say spicy?), and beginners and intermediates should scale appropriately to preserve that same stimulus of continuous movement for the duration of the AMRAP.
Enjoy!
WOD For 07-25-18:
"For Quality" - Alternating EMOM For 3 Rounds (12 Total Minutes):
1) 0:45 Seconds Row, Ski, or Assault Bike (you pick the pace)
2) 80ft Double Kettlebell Front Rack Carry @ pick load (40ft down & back)
3) Dumbbell Turkish Get-up @ pick load (1 Right then 1 Left)
4) REST
Feeling sore from Tuesday's WOD? Then take the row/ski/bike easy and get the blood flow going. Didn't do Tuesday's WOD? Then go as hard/fast on the row/ski/bike as you like, keeping in mind that position and stability in the next two movements are paramount.
-then-
AMRAP 7 Minutes:
7 Pull-ups
7 Hand Release Push-ups
14 AbMat Sit-ups
28 Double Unders
Yes, just chin-over pull-ups (no chest-to-bar today). Which means you should be able to go even faster.
CrossFit.com Main Site Fun
Tuesday WOD is straight from the CrossFit.com "main site" and was their workout of the day for Saturday, July 21st. It fits quite nicely with the rest of our programmed week at Arena Ready, and as a follow-up to Monday's (non-barbell) burpee box jump/KB swing/ring muscle-up up party it uses air squats, a moderately loaded barbell, and a repeating interval format to basically give you (in many ways) a complimentary stimulus to we just did the previous day. And it's very "in the style of AR" as far as main site WODs go, so it should be fun to hit it hard on Tuesday!
Here's our old buddy Rory McKernan with some insight into this WOD:
WOD For 07-24-18:
TEN 1-Minute Rounds of:
25 Air Squats
Max Reps Clean & Jerks @ 155/105 lbs
(Rest 2 Minutes Between Rounds)
Your score is the total number of clean & jerk reps completed.
(Workout courtesy of CrossFit.com)
Current Events
In recent news, Emily Abbott, the winner of the women’s CrossFit Games West Regional, reportedly failed her drug test and is banned from competing in CrossFit-sanctioned events for the next four years.
This is notable obviously because it affects our own region, but also because, as a failed drug test always does, it raises questions about the integrity of the sport, what it takes to win, what is physically possible, why someone would be in a position to cheat, etc.
To hear Emily’s side of the story, you can listen to the Shrugged Collective podcast here.
To hear CrossFit’s side, you can watch Sean Woodland interview Justin Bergh, General Manager of the CrossFit Games here (click for the video).
In my (Sarah) opinion, CrossFit for most people is about pursuing their best and living their happiest, healthiest life. CrossFit as a professional sport (like track) brings the complications of money and fame, which for many people are sufficient temptation to risk reputation and possibly health to pursue unfair advantages. I was heartbroken when Marion Jones failed her drug test because she had represented my hope that someone with an atypical body type could actually compete that well clean (apparently not). Same in CrossFit now - I badly want what the Games athletes are doing to be a genuine result of dedication and hard work - and I hope that most of them really are clean.
As you know, I’m a rule follower. Whether or not I agree with the rules (in this case I do), I tend to respect their existence, and it’s important to note that everyone who competes even at the Open level of CrossFit agrees to compete by the rules, including movement standards, avoiding banned substances, etc. If you take supplements in any form it’s important to know how unregulated that market is, and that generally supplements are left entirely un-policed (could even be chalk dust packaged in a musty basement alongside pet dander, and no one would know unless people started getting sick). This is why Safe for Sport, GMP and NSF certifications for supplements are important - to avoid accidental contamination and to be sure that what’s on the label is actually in the product.
In Emily’s case it sounds like it wasn’t accidental exposure from a tainted supplement. But, anytime someone goes down and claims it was an accident, it always reminds me how careful we need to be with what we choose to put in our bodies. Even if you’re not likely to be drug tested, if you’re taking supplements it’s wise to get them from a reputable source to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, and also to be sure you aren’t getting something you wouldn’t knowingly or intentionally take.
There are services like Labdoor.com (on instagram: @labdoor) that can assist with verifying if a supplement you're interested in actually contains the things they claim.
WOD For 07-23-18:
Strict Muscle-up:
Skill Practice & Drills
-then-
4 Rounds For Time:
12 Burpee Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
21 KB swings @ 70/53 lbs
***Perform 3 RING MUSCLE-UPS EVERY TWO MINUTES starting at 0:00 (no, they do not have to be strict).
Bon Voyage Dr. Dave!
Since the institution of the Arena Ready Moratorium (click here to read the original post) over two years ago there have been several noteworthy violators that have made me both excited for their new adventures and (selfishly) sad that our little place in the world will no longer have them walking through our doors. I stopped shouting them all out since it was too traumatic for me each time a long-standing member moved from San Francisco to some far away land for work/school/quality of life/blah blah blah.
Very recently we've had some really awesome people move away -- Milgram, Mike S, James O, Austin, Mark & Nina, and Peter & Amy D to name a few. And this Saturday will be the last official WOD for one of our longest-standing members and someone who has been a fixture at Arena Ready for nearly five years. After over a thousand classes (yes, you read that right), countless QoDs, lots of dry humor and witty banter, our very own Dr. Dave will say farewell to the AR community.
So, at his request for squat cleans and pull-ups in a final hoorah, we give you the Doc's last prescription for fitness. We'll miss ya Dr. Dave!
WOD For 07-21-18:
"Dr. Dave's Final Rx"
WITH A PARTNER On a Running Clock...
A) 0:00 - 10:00
Squat Clean:
Using the same barbell, both partners establish a heavy single FOR TODAY (not max)
B) 15:00 - 30:00
AMRAP 15 Minutes:
10/8 Calorie Row, Ski, or Assault Bike
8 Squat Cleans @ 115/80 lbs
8 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
One athlete working at a time. Complete ONE FULL ROUND then switch. Tagging is NOT required (i.e. start the row as soon as your partner completes their final pull-up).
The KB Snatch
The KB Snatch can be a challenging - and at times awkward - movement for some but often it stems from a misunderstanding of the positions and sequencing (or "line of action") of the exercise. In the video below you'll notice that the movement is initiated with a hinge (hips push back, KB reaches behind the athlete, torso comes forward while maintaining a flat back) and NOT a squat (hips drop straighter down, KB does not reach behind, torso stays relatively upright) which is a common fault.
You'll also notice that once the hips and legs extend to drive the KB the athlete's elbow stays in close to the body (and does not extend away from the body like in a KB swing) as the bell starts to become weightless -- you can observe this in the middle image in the freeze frame below. Then, then active "punch" overhead to catch or receive the bell must be aggressive and with a bit of a loose grip to allow for the turnover -- "death-gripping" the bell as it turns over will result in the KB flopping over and bashing the forearm until it's black & blue.
I like to think of the movement sequence as "hike the KB behind me > squeeze my butt & quads to drive it > elbow in close to ribs > punch up to raise my hand in class" -- in that exact order 1, 2, 3, 4 like you mean it with confidence.
Booyeah. Say no to bruised forearms!
WOD For 07-20-18:
Deadlift:
5-5-5-5-5
-then-
AMRAP 12 Minutes:
20 KB Snatches @ 53/35 lbs (switch sides after 10 reps)
20 Burpee Over KB
40 Walking Lunges
#TBT Track Day
Throwback Thursday to that time we took a REALLY BIG group down to the track for some good old fashioned conditioning work. We might be due for another one of these soon!
WOD For 07-19-18:
3 Rounds For Quality, Go Every 3 Minutes:
2-10 Strict Pull-ups (you pick the number of reps)
2-5 Kipping Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups (you pick the number of reps)
2-5 Kipping Pull-ups (you pick the number of reps)
*Each round is completed as one continuous set without dropping
*ONLY gymnastics kip allowed (NO butterfly kip today)
-then-
For Time:
21-15-9
Power Snatches @ 135/95 lbs
Ring Dips
Air Hopping
Who remembers the deck-to-pistol-stick-jump-over (or as I used to call it the "burpee pistol jump")? Click on that hyper-link for a little refresher courtesy of "Air Hopping."
If you can do one deck-to-pistol-box-jump-over and completely clear your box when doing Wednesday's AMRAPs then you get to skip all the box jumps and pistols for that round and go straight to hang power cleans...
I'm KIDDING. Sort of.
WOD For 07-18-18:
Hang Power Clean:
3-3-3-3-3
Climbing
-then-
A) AMRAP 6 Minutes:
9 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
6 Pistols (alternate)
3 Hang Power Cleans @ 185/135 lbs
... Rest 3 Minutes, Then...
B) AMRAP 3 Minutes:
9 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
6 Pistols (alternate)
3 Hang Power Cleans @ 185/135 lbs
Re-start the AMRAP in part B and score this as two separate AMRAPs (i.e. not a continuous or cumulative score).