Holiday Week Schedule

Please find our planned schedule for this week, and note that this is PENDING satisfactory air quality and MAY BE CHANGED as needed for safety purposes due to the constantly shifting Air Quality Index.

Tuesday, November 20th:

Normal class schedule.

Lots of time with the barbell to limit heavy breathing.

Wednesday, November 21st:

Normal class schedule EXCEPT 7pm class cancelled.

Assuming the forecasted rain arrives and provides air quality relief expect an increased aerobic stimulus to compliment Tuesday’s time with the barbell.

Thursday, November 22nd (Thanksgiving Day):

TBD depending on air quality & weather (we’ll update you again on Wednesday evening)

EITHER:

Thanksgiving Holiday Classes — 8:00am and 9:15am (@ Arena Ready)

OR

Thanksgiving Holiday Turkey Trot — Time TBD (@ the track)

Friday, November 23rd:

Open Gym at 9:00am and 10:00am

Saturday, November 24th:

Normal Saturday class schedule.

Sunday, November 25th:

Normal Sunday Open Gym schedule.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your attention.

WOD For 11-20-18:

With a Partner For Quality AND Load:

Bench Press:

3-3-3-3-3

Power Clean:

3-3-3-3-3

Partners use the same bench press bar and power clean bar, changing the weight between sets as needed.

Both partners work toward a top set of 3 for both movements.

Touch-and-go is not required for the power cleans.

AR Athletes at 2018 Rite of Passage Meet

AIR QUALITY UPDATE: As of 8pm on Sunday evening it looks like Monday classes will run as planned. We’ve left the air filters on our HVAC system running and at Open Gym on Sunday the air inside the building was much better than the previous two days. We will, of course, continue to monitor things as Monday and Tuesday progress, and if the AQI takes another a turn for the worse we may need to re-evaluate once again (hopefully not!).

Arena Ready Athletes CRUSH IT at 2018 Rite of Passage Meet

All three of our weightlifting athletes CRUSHED IT this weekend on the competition platform at the 2018 Rite of Passage Meet — a HUGE congratulations to Jeannie, Cassie, and Liz for the incredible performances at their first-ever officially sanctioned weightlifting meet!

Jeannie started the weekend of competition off by going five-for-six on her lifts, snatching 39kg and clean & jerking 51kg for a 90kg total in her first ever competition involving any sort of barbell, weights, or crowds LOL. She even cleaned her final attempt at 53kg easily but the jerk just wasn’t quite there this time. Her 90kg total qualified her for the USAW Masters National Championships puts her JUST ONE KILO shy of the IWF Masters World Championships qualifying total — a mark we are sure she will make, and surpass, should she decide to compete again. Not too shabby for a first-ever competition… way to KILL IT OUT THERE JEANNIE!

I mean, we all knew she was badass AMIRITE? Now lots more people know too.

Next up was Cassie, and as many of you saw on the live feed, and in person at the meet, she basically LIFTED ALL OF THE WEIGHTS by going a perfect six-for-six. Cassie snatched 77kg and clean & jerked 93kg for a HUGE 170kg total in the 59kg bodyweight category. This easily qualified her for the 2019 USAW Senior National Championships, making her the 8th Arena Ready athlete to qualify for a national-level and/or international-level meet. Cassie’s big day was also good enough to win the meet overall (across every lifter and all bodyweight classes) on Sinclair total — a victory which came with a $1,000 prize check awarded to her by 1972 OLYMPIC CHAMPION, two-time Olympian, and former USA Weightlifting National Team Coach, Zygmunt Smalcerz:

Nice work, Cassie! Can I borrow a thousand bucks?

On Sunday, Liz topped off the amazing weekend with one of the gutsiest performances in recent memory. She set post-baby PRs on her way to a five-for-six performance, snatching 60kg and clean & jerking 75kg for a 135kg total. Liz even cleaned 78kg fairly easily on her final attempt but just barely missed the jerk behind — regardless her total was good enough to qualify her for the 2019 IWF Masters World Championships… making Liz officially the 9th Arena Ready athlete to qualify for a national-level and/or international-level meet! Another amazing notch in the competition belt for Liz, one the fiercest competitors around…

Huge props need to be given as well to our fantastic team of experienced weightlifting coaches — Coach Hillary, Coach Kate, and Coach Sarah all did a marvelous job managing our athletes in the warm-up area, keeping their nerves calm, timing the perfect warm-up sequences, and calling clutch attempts on the competition platform. At these meets it’s so awesome to witness how their calm, cool, collected demeanor and vast competition experience makes for a smooth and successful game day for our athletes — even when the surroundings are chaotic and tense. Great job, Coaches!

Lastly, we need to say thank you to all the Arena Ready supporters who braved the crappy air conditions and came out to watch and cheer in person, as well as those who screamed from afar by watching on the live stream. Your support and enthusiasm is a big part of what makes events like these so memorable — somehow no matter where we go we seem to have some of the loudest and proudest cheering sections around!

These photos are missing lots of people (Yami, Brian D, Michelle, Linds B, Kathy, and probably a few others I’m forgetting, GAH!) but they were the closest I could get to a group shot…

Hooray for friends, babies, weightlifting, and GIANT CHECKS!

Since the nasty air put us all out of commission on Friday and Saturday we thought it would be great to start off the week with what we meant to end the week with on Friday —so here we go! A re-post of Friday’s programming but this time it looks like we’ll actually be able to do it — and coincidentally the time domain, loading, movement order, and general stimulus fit really well if you happened to take several days off.

So let’s get back at it and start the week off right!

WOD For 11-19-18:

AMRAP 9 Minutes:

9 Deficit Handstand Push-ups @ 4/2 in

15 Med Ball Cleans @ 20/14 lbs

21 AbMat Sit-ups

-then-

Back Squat:

15 Minutes to Establish a Heavy Triple For Today (Not a 3RM)

Air Quality Gym Closure: Friday & Saturday

From Coach Sarah:

Ok friends... I wish there were a page in the "how to be a gym owner" handbook for "how to evaluate the risk of member exposure to toxic fumes" but sadly that chapter (and that manual) does not exist.

Here's what I know: SF air quality index (AQI) is 271 currently (as of 3pm on Friday), and seems to be holding steady or getting worse. It appears to be forecast to be like this until at least Tuesday.

People are advised to stay inside with their doors and windows closed. The gym is sort of inside, and we have HVAC, but we also have gaps in the rollup doors, and I don't at my core believe that the HVAC is sufficient to make the gym a safe space to work out.

As a result, we're making the call to close the gym tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday), with Sunday and early next week TBD. I realize this will be unpopular for many of you, and trust me I hear you. I won't be working out either.

Ultimately, I believe people come to Arena Ready in part because we do our very best to keep people as safe as possible, as much as possible, and I feel like this is a case where we need to do just that. Sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

Rest assured, even when I was training for the Olympics we took two weeks in a row off literally sitting on the couch at least once per year. While I know it feels like you might, you won't lose material fitness in a few days, or even a few weeks.

As I understand it, you could actually get very sick from working out in this smoke, and so I reluctantly am going to make this call. I very much hope you understand.

I wish you all safety and health despite these conditions. If there's anything Rob and I can do to help you make it through to better air, please let us know.

Sending up prayers for everyone affected by these fires.

Air Quality Safety Measures

UPDATE: With an Air Quality Index of 263 at the time of this writing we are sad to say that we’ve cancelled this evening’s (Friday) 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm classes.

UPDATE: Friday’s 12pm class is cancelled as well. Check back for updates on Friday’s 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm evening classes. Stay safe, friends!

Sadly, as many of you are aware, the air quality has worsened and as a result we are quite concerned for everyone’s health and safety. While our gym does have full HVAC we dont’ feel confident enough to say that the HVAC filtration is enough to bring the current conditions down to safe levels for intense exercise (or really any exercise).

As we messaged about and posted in our Facebook Group, Thursday’s afternoon & evening classes (4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm) have been cancelled, as well as Friday morning’s classes (6am and 7am).

Friday’s 12pm class and afternoon & evening classes (4pm, 5pm, 6pm) are TBD based on conditions hopefully improving. We’ll update this blog post and the Facebook Group on Friday morning (likely mid-to-late morning) as soon as it’s clear what to do either way.

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Stay safe out there, friends, and thanks for your attention.

Arena Ready at The 2018 Rite of Passage Meet

Arena Ready has a long history of competitors in Olympic-style weightlifting, and that tradition will continue with three of our athletes competing in their first-ever USA Weightlifting sanctioned event — the 2018 Rite of Passage Meet!

Jeannie, Cassie, and Liz will take the competition platform this weekend with AR coaches and supporters cheering them on. Our friends at Speed Power Strength (SPS) host this competition every year at their amazing facility, and they do a fantastic job organizing and running one of the most fun weightlifting meets around.

So make the short trip over to Oakland to watch some big lifts and cheer for our three athletes. Meet location and session start times are listed below… GOOD LUCK Jeannie, Cassie, and Liz!!!

Meet Location:

Speed Power Strength

2140 Livingston Street

Oakland, CA 94606

Session Start Times:

Jeannie - Saturday (Nov 17) @ 9:00am

Cassie - Saturday (Nov 17) @ 1:30pm

Liz - Sunday (Nov 18) @ 3:30pm

WOD For 11-15-18:

Every 90 Seconds For 12 Rounds (18 Minutes):

Rounds 1-4:

3 Power Snatches + 1 Squat Snatch

Rounds 5-8:

2 Power Snatches + 1 Squat Snatch

Rounds 9-12:

1 Power Snatch + 1 Squat Snatch

Climbing as your technique allows.

-then-

For Time:

21-15-9

Power Snatches @ 115/80 lbs

Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups

The Ghost

If you asked yourself “what would be the exact opposite of Tuesday’s WOD?” perhaps you’d arrive at this gem for some Wednesday fun…

WOD For 11-14-18:

“The Ghost”

6 Rounds of 1 Minute Per Station For Max Reps:

Row For Calories

Burpees

Double Unders

(Rest 1 Minute Between Rounds)

Aim for as many reps as possible of EACH exercise, not just total score. Post separate totals of calories rowed, burpee reps and double-under reps completed.

(Workout courtesy of CrossFit.com)

I Got a Fever and The Rx is More Barbell

Members: Dude, really? Two programmed days in a row with no barbell? Is this still Arena Ready or what?!

Me: I see you, fam.

WOD For 11-13-18:

With a Partner, AMRAP 20 Minutes:

1 Deadlift @ 225/155 lbs

1 Power Clean

1 Front Squat

1 Jerk

This is a “You go, then I go” format. Complete one FULL round then switch.

Any style of jerk is allowed (push, power, split).

If you’re doing this workout unbroken either:

A) You should be training for The CF Games and we should talk

… OR (more likely for the rest of us)…

B) You’ve scaled it too light

(Workout inspired by HyperFit)

Thank You To Our Veterans

Thank you to those serving, and to those who have served.  And a special thanks to our veterans here at Arena Ready -- we appreciate the sacrifices you've made, and we're grateful to know you and to have the opportunity to coach you each and every day. 

WOD For 11-12-18:

On a Running Clock…

A) At 0:00

For Time:

40 Overhead Walking Lunges w/Plate @ 45/35 lbs

40 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

40 KB Swings @ 70/53 lbs

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

B) At 15:00

For Time:

30 Overhead Walking Lunges w/Plate @ 45/35 lbs

30 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in

30 KB Swings @ 70/53 lbs

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

Sweaty Saturday Partner Plate Partaaaay

Sadly not the kind of plates you might want to see at a party with your friends. Nevertheless it should be a fun time anyway.

Get your weekend started right and get in here!

WOD For 11-10-18:

With a Partner Against a 24-Minute Clock For MAX CALORIES:

80/70/60 Calorie Row (MM/FM/FF Pairs)

40 Toes-to-Bar

40 Plate Burpees w/Ground-to-Overhead @ 45/35 lbs

60/53/45 Calorie Row

30 Toes-to-Bar

30 Plate Burpees w/Ground-to-Overhead

40/35/30 Calorie Row

20 Toes-to-Bar

20 Plate Burpee w/Ground-to-Overhead @ 45/35 lbs

MAX CALORIE Row

*Only one partner working at a time, switch whenever you like (tagging not required)

*Score = total calories rowed after the completion of the descending-rep movement sequence (or where you were in the sequence at the 24-minute cap)

*Plate Burpee w/Ground-to-Overhead movement standard is:

1. Chest touches the plate on the floor

2. Plate is lifted overhead with arms locked out and hips & knees extended

3. Plate is lowered back below the knees to complete the rep (dropping from above the knees is a NO REP)

Elizabeth

The classic benchmark workout “Elizabeth” can be performed in a couple different ways depending on your gym’s or coach’s preference. At Arena Ready “Elizabeth” has and always will be done with FULL (AKA “SQUAT”) cleans — even though the WOD is traditionally written as “cleans” (i.e. you can clean it anyhow… power, split, muscle, squat).

We’ve done so many variations of ‘Elizabeth” over the years, including powers, running, rowing, burpees, and many other movements added to the mix. But on Friday we’ll re-test the most classic and true variation of the WOD there is… a simple 21-15-9 couplet with full cleans (and ring dips too… woohoo).

Happy Friday, friends!

WOD For 11-09-18:

Every 90 Seconds For 8 Rounds:

1 Power Clean + 1 Front Squat + 1 Squat Clean

Climbing as your technique allows

-then-

“Elizabeth”

For Time:

21-15-9

Squat Cleans @ 135/95 lbs

Ring Dips

(Compare to 11-28-16, 07-02-15, 04-24-14)

I Can't Feel My Legs When I'm With You

But I love it. But I love it.

Inspired by this year’s 2018 Wodapalooza Team Qualifier Workout 9 and adapted for a better class structure and to maintain sustainable use of your legs in the days following (because you know, you’re an adult with a job and things to do… and not being able to walk properly because of “this killer workout brah” is sort of counterproductive) we give you this little gem.

Don’t underestimate these DB Box Step-Overs (you’ve been warned LOL).

Enjoy!

WOD For 11-08-18:

FOUR Cycles of 3:00 Work / 3:00 Rest For Max Calories:

60 Double Unders

16 Dumbbell Box Step-Overs @ 35/20 lbs (per hand) & 24/20 in

Max Calorie Row

Score = total calories rowed across all 4 cycles.

Mid-Week Partner Party

Because snatch complexes and AMRAPs are always better with friends.

WOD For 11-07-18:

With a Partner On a Running Clock…

A) 0:00 - 10:00

Using the Same Barbell, Both Partners Establish a Top Set of:

2 Power Snatches + 1 Squat Snatch

Touch-and-go is not required.

B) 13:00 - 28:00

AMRAP 15 Minutes:

7 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups

7 Power Snatches @ 115/80 lbs

7 Lateral Bar Burpees

“You go then I go” format — complete one FULL round then switch.