Workout of the Day
Presidents Day Schedule
First of all, is this day written as a possessive? Does it belong to said presidents and thus should be written with an apostrophe? Or is it an adjective and therefore not in need of the possessive form? Someone help me out because I’m too lazy to use the Google machine and I’ve seen it written in both forms multiple times.
OK, now that we have that out of the way please note our holiday schedule for Monday, February 18th:
6:00am CrossFit cancelled
7:00pm CrossFit cancelled
***If the 12:00pm CrossFit class registration is is full by Sunday evening at 5:00pm we will add a 1:00pm CrossFit class as well (i.e. if you want another mid-day holiday class then please sign-up sooner rather than later)
Here’s the FINAL TEAM/PARTNER WOD BEFORE THE OPEN (aka the last one for the next month and a half)!
WOD For 02-16-19:
With a Partner, 5 Rounds For Time:
500m Row
30 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 95/65 lbs
30 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
30 Overhead Squats
Only one athlete working at a time, switch whenever you like (reps do not have to be split evenly).
Friday Fun Day?
Sure, if you like burpees (and jerks!).
Happy Friday, everyone.
WOD For 02-15-19:
Push Jerk:
5-4-3-2-1-1-1
No rack, cleaned from the ground. Climb as your technique allows.
-then-
For Time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Push Jerks @ 115/80 lbs
Lateral Bar Burpees
Lost & Found Reminder
Another reminder to please check the gym’s Lost & Found over the next several days before we donate the contents on Monday, Feb 18th.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you (several times) when you walk in next week and see Molly or Kate doing burpees in your favorite sweatshirt. Yes, that’s happened.
WOD For 02-14-19:
5 Cycles of 2:30 Work / 2:30 Rest:
15 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
15 Dumbbell Box Step-Overs @ 35/20 lbs (each hand) & 24/20 in
50 Double Unders
Goal is to complete all 50 double unders (DUs) every cycle within the 2:30 window, and your score is total DUs completed (best possible score = 250).
If you are cut-off on the DUs score that cycle by the number of DU reps completed.
If you are cut-off on the DB box step-overs then you picked the wrong scaling for the step-overs or the pull-ups OR both (not even close, in fact, so adjust on the next cycle!).
8 Days Out: The Announcement of Open 19.1
We’re just 8 days away from the announcement of “Open 19.1” folks!
To register/sign-up for the 2019 Open at Arena Ready check out this post and then click here to register.
To get the basic scoop on how the Saturday Open workouts will run for 5 consecutive weeks starting on Feb 23rd click here — get on it and sign-up!
Taking it back to Open 15.1 thanks to our friend, Brian Campbell
WOD For 02-13-19:
Every 90 Seconds For 7 Rounds:
2 Power Snatches + 2 Overhead Squats
Climbing as your technique allows. Touch-and-go reps not required for the power snatches.
-then-
For Time:
50 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
25 Power Snatches @ 95/65 lbs
50 Hand-Release Push-ups
25 Power Snatches
50 Wall Balls
Tuesday Power Output
After Monday’s re-visit of Open 18.1 our AR barbell fanatics may be wishing for some good old fashioned weightlifting and high power output.
I got you fam.
WOD For 02-12-19:
Every 90 Seconds For 7 Rounds:
2 Power Cleans + 2 Front Squats
Climbing as your technique allows. Touch-and-go reps not required for the power cleans.
-then-
AMRAP 7 Minutes:
5 Box Jumps @ 30/24 lbs
3 Power Cleans @ 205/145 lbs
1 Front Squat
I Don't Just Rap, I AMRAP
Oh hey look, an Open workout.
Huh, imagine that.
And it’s scalable.
Weird.
WOD For 02-11-19:
“Open 18.1”
AMRAP 20 Minutes:
8 Toes-to-Bar
10 Single Dumbbell Hang Clean to Overhead @ 50/35 lbs (switch sides after 5 reps)
14/12 Calorie Row
Yeah, I’m calling it an “overhead” (like I usually do) and not a “jerk” since no re-bending of the legs was allowed in the Open. As for the “clean” well… I’ll just leave that one alone for lack of a better term LOL.
(Compare to 02-24-18)
The Open Is For All of Us! (And PS Check The Lost & Found)
Hey look, you’re going to do this cool WOD on Saturday. Because you like working out on Saturdays at AR… it’s fun, the energy is high, the place is bustling, people are happy & socializing, you get to see your gym buddies that you may not see during the work week, and the workouts are usually pretty tough (which you love).
Guess what, Saturday exerciser? For 5 consecutive Saturday’s starting on Feb 23rd there’s a cool little worldwide fitness event that lots of your AR homies will be participating in because, well… it’s fun, the energy is high, the place is bustling, people are happy & socializing, you get to see your gym buddies that you may not see during the work week, and the workouts are usually pretty tough (which you love).
You get my point.
Don’t be that person who works out on Saturdays at AR anyway but is not entered in the Open — trust me when I say that the handful of people that do that end up wishing they had just signed up to officially participate in the first place. And yes, you can do the Open workout on Sunday at Open Gym if you can’t make it on Saturday — and if you’re traveling for any of the weeks then one of the many (fourteen thousand now?) CrossFit affiliates around the world who are also doing the Open will surely be near your stay and can host you for that week’s Open workout.
Register this weekend and maybe I won’t torture all of you again with another week of Karen variations and burpee tick-or-treats. It’s from a place of love, people.
Speaking of a place of love— the gym’s Lost & Found is full of things that many of you must love and are sad they are missing from your life. I’ll tell you what’s not sad… me when we donate what’s left over in the Lost & Found to charity. I’m like the King of KonMari and if Marie Kondo left her first pair of weightlifting shoes here I’d have them out on the street faster than you can say “vertical fold” because, quite frankly, her weightlifting technique doesn’t spark any joy in my heart. Let’s be honest her cleans suck.
So please check the Lost & Found before we donate the items on Feb 18th. Thanks!
WOD For 02-09-19:
Remember the format of last Saturday’s WOD? Well this is a very similar format but with a different mix of movements. AND a little extra treat during your “rest” period… because A) who doesn’t love more wall balls and B) not enough of you are signed up for the Open.
In Teams of THREE…
AMRAP 27 Minutes:
40 Double Unders
8 Deadlifts @ 225/155 lbs
8 Lateral Bar Burpees
*Only one athlete working at a time and MUST COMPLETE ONE FULL ROUND before switching.
*During your rest" period you MUST COMPLETE 10 UNBROKEN WALL BALLS (Rx = 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft)
*The next athlete may start on her Double Unders as soon as the previous athlete completes his final Lateral Bar Burpee — but only if her set of 10 Wall Balls has also been completed.
Sit Up Straight!
In the gym we're constantly trying to get athletes to maintain good positions, whether it be during weightlifting, bodyweight movements, or even mono-structural conditioning elements (running, rowing, jumping, etc). The cues you hear of "chest up" or "chest out" or "set yourself big and proud" are really just tools we use to get athletes in better positions to move external objects or their own body through space. And really, posture is just a proper-sounding word for position.
Good posture in the gym hopefully leads to an increased awareness around better general posture in one's daily life outside of the gym. The folks at TedEd made this little video about the benefits of good posture - check it out:
Here are three movements (in Friday’s WOD) that are aided by good posture, and made very difficult if you generally spend time in bad postures…
I think they call that a segue.
Oh, and REGISTER FOR THE OPEN ALREADY!!!
I think they call that a non-sequitur.
WOD For 02-08-19:
2 Hang Power Snatches + 2 Overhead Squats:
12 Minutes to Build to a Top Set (NOT a max)
-then-
For Time:
21-15-9
Hang Power Snatches @ 75/55 lbs
Overhead Squats
Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
The Opposite of 100 Burpees For Time
Take a breath. I won’t even mention it this time. If you came in and did 100 burpees on Wednesday then good on ya… if you didn’t then instead of the barbell complex below you’ll be assigned 100 burpees for Thursday’s WOD.
I’m kidding. Or am I?
WOD For 02-07-19:
Every 90 Seconds For 14 Rounds (21 Total Minutes):
2 Power Cleans +
1 Front Squat +
1 Squat Clean
******For the first 4 rounds perform a Halting Clean Deadlift to start the complex (then proceed without it for the next 10 rounds - i.e. simply start with the first Power Clean for rounds 5 through 14)
*This complex does NOT need to be touch-and-go
*Start at approximately 60-70% of your 1RM (or "light-moderate" in weight) and climb as your technique allows (climbing every round is NOT required)
The Open: What We Measure We Improve
Looking back at "Open 16.3" at Arena Ready:
I told you I was gonna starting bringing it. Just sign-up for the Open already!
Speaking (sorry not sorry) of the Open - are you registered? Click here to read the main details of how we'll run the Open at Arena Ready, and then head over to the CrossFit Games page to register (please select Arena Ready as your affiliate when registering).
James Clear - entrepreneur, weightlifter, and travel photographer - once wrote a blog post on the value of measuring important areas of our life. It's a quick read and an important message that resonates with those of us who follow CrossFit as an observable, repeatable, and measurable training & fitness program - and who use The Open as a measure of exactly how far we've come, and how far we still have to go. The concept can extend beyond your training, and into other areas of your life which you deem important.
The blog post is published here, and is included below in its entirety:
Imagine this…
Someone walks into the gym, warms up, does a little bit of this exercise, does a little bit of that exercise, bounces around to a few machines, maybe hops on the treadmill, finishes their workout, and leaves the gym.
This isn’t a critique of their workout. In fact, it’s quite possible that they got a nice workout in. So, what is notable about this situation?
They didn’t measure anything. They didn’t track their workout. They didn’t count reps or weight or time or speed or any other metric. And so, they have no basis for knowing if they are making progress or not. Not tracking your progress is one of the six major mistakes I see people make in the gym.
But here’s the thing: We all have areas of life that we say are important to us, but that we aren’t measuring.
What We Measure, We Improve
Count something. Regardless of what one ultimately does in medicine—or outside of medicine, for that matter—one should be a scientist in this world. In the simplest terms, this means one should count something. … It doesn’t really matter what you count. You don’t need a research grant. The only requirement is that what you count should be interesting to you.
—Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance
The things we measure are the things we improve. It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.
When I measured how many pushups I did, I got stronger.
When I tracked my reading habit of 20 pages per day, I read more books.
When I recorded my values, I began living with more integrity.
Our lives are shaped by how we choose to spend our time and energy each day. Measuring can help us spend that time in better ways, more consistently.
It’s Not About the Result, It’s About Awareness
The trick is to realize that counting, measuring, and tracking is not about the result. It’s about the system, not the goal.
Measure from a place of curiosity. Measure to discover, to find out, to understand.
Measure from a place of self-awareness. Measure to get to know yourself better.
Measure to see if you are showing up. Measure to see if you’re actually spending time on the things that are important to you.
You Can’t Measure Everything
Critics will be quick to point out that you can’t measure everything. This is true.
Love is important, but how do you measure it?
Morality is important, but can it be quantified accurately?
Finding meaning in our lives is essential, but how do you calculate it?
Furthermore, there are some things in life that don’t need to be measured. Some people just love working out for the sake of working out. Measuring every repetition might reduce the satisfaction and make it seem more like a job. There is nothing wrong with that. (As always, take the main idea and use it in a way that is best for you.)
Measurement won’t solve everything. It is not an ultimate answer to life. However, it is a way to track something critical: are you showing up in the areas that you say are important to you?
The Idea in Practice
But even for things that can’t be quantified, measuring can be helpful. And it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.
You can’t measure love, but you can track different ways that you are showing up with love in your life:
Send a digital love note to your partner each day (text, email, voicemail, tweet, etc.) and use the Seinfeld Strategy to keep track of your streak.
Schedule one “Surprise Appreciation” each week where you write to a friend and thank them for something unexpected.
You can’t measure morality, but you can track if you’re thinking about it:
Write down three values that are dear to you each morning.
Keep a decision journal to track which decisions you make and whether or not they align with your ethics.
The things we measure are the things we improve. What are you measuring in your life?
-James Clear
"It's Not About The Result, It's About Awareness."
I love that part.
I know we are a group of individuals who value, among other things, the process of measuring our progress. The beauty of the awareness that comes with measuring is the discovery of what you're capable of with consistent effort applied over long periods of time.
I, of course, would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to encourage every one of you Arena Ready members to PLEASE USE Beyond The Whiteboard to record your progress. We pay for it so you don't have to. Don't know what Beyond The Whiteboard is? Well then read this old post and then email/message us so we can add you to our group.
No, the BTWB system isn't perfect and its app can sometimes be a bit difficult with some of our more creative workouts, but it is a powerful tool when used consistently (you can even see where you stand in popular workouts against the tens of thousands of other users in the world... even if privately to yourself after making your privacy settings as such). Make it a habit - get on it, and when "19.1" pops up again (after this year) you'll be able to see how much you've improved, and how far you can still progress.
WOD For 02-06-19:
3 Rounds For QUALITY (NOT For Time):
12 Dumbbell Bench Presses @ 50/35 lbs (per side)
10 Strict Pull-ups
60 Unbroken Double Unders
-then-
For Time (Including Rest minutes):
100 Burpees to a Target (at least 6 inches above your max reach)
***This is 1 MINUTE OF WORK then 1 MINUTE OF FORCED REST until you complete 100 total reps.
Your time includes the forced rest minutes (i.e. if you’re getting close you better hurry to finish or it will be another minute before you can do those last few reps).
For Five Consecutive Saturdays Starting FEB 23rd: THE OPEN AT ARENA READY!
Are you IN THE OPEN at Arena Ready?!
Starting on Saturday, February 23rd - and for five consecutive Saturdays - our daily WOD will be the current week's CrossFit Games Worldwide Open workout (for those of you who have done The Open at AR previously you know the drill). On Saturday, February 23rd we will do "Open Workout 19.1"... whatever that may be (we shall find out on Thursday, February 21st at 5pm, along with the rest of the world). Every Thursday at 5pm the Open workout will be released, and the following Saturday we will do the WOD as a gym during all Saturday morning classes.
Each Saturday class during this five week time period will consist of multiple heats of the Open workout, and each athlete should expect to do the WOD during one of the heats and also judge a fellow athlete during another heat. You are, of course, welcome to stay for as long as you like to cheer on other athletes as they tackle the WOD, or continue to help with judging. These "Open Saturdays" are pretty energetic and are really fun days at the gym - and many AR members like to hang out for a few hours to watch, judge, and cheer for their friends. We will continue to ask you to sign-in for class, just like any other Saturday, to save your spot during that hour.
If you're not formally entered in The Open you can still do the workouts at AR, and you'll participate in heats just like those of us who are registered for the event. But if you plan on working out on Saturdays (or even on Sundays) during those five weeks anyway you may as well sign-up and officially participate in the fun!
It's sixteen days before the first workout ("19.1") is announced, and it's not too late to register for this awesome worldwide event which you'll be able to participate in with your fellow friends and members at Arena Ready. You can still register for The Open through the CrossFit Games website here (registration cost is $20):
When registering yourself please be sure to select Arena Ready CrossFit as your so that your profile appears on our affiliate roster.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions.
A look back at Open 16.2 courtesy of our old friend and AR alumnus, Brian Campbell
WOD For 02-05-19:
AMRAP 17 Minutes:
17/14 Calorie Row
17 Overhead Walking Lunges w/Plate @ 45/35 lbs
17 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
17 KB Swings @ 70/53 lbs
-then-
Weighted Plank Hold:
3 x 0:45 (Rest 1:15 Between Efforts)
The 2019 Open is Coming
I left you alone for January (you’re welcome) but this is now officially the start of my 2019 Open Campaign…
It's that time of year again - the worldwide 2019 CrossFit Games Open begins IN JUST 18 DAYS on February 21st with the announcement of 19.1 and registration is live! This is one of the most exciting times of the year at Arena Ready, and this year will be the first Open in our new digs following the last six at AR 1.0/2.0 on Connecticut Street!
Experienced CrossFitters at Arena Ready know what lies ahead (well, sort of ;-p), while newer athletes/members will likely be curious what all the hubbub is about these next several weeks. We will post more detail (and many reminders) about "The Open" in the coming weeks, as well as some flashback moments from several awesome and inspiring performances over the last few years during The Open at AR.
For the time being, particularly for the newcomers, start by clicking here for a simple summary of what The Open is all about. The level of positive self-discovery one tends to encounter in the encouraging, inclusive, and competitive environment that is The Open is something most athletes never forget (or regret).
In the last four years OVER HALF of Arena Ready's members registered and participated in The Open - a participation level much higher than just about any gym we are aware of... so this year we are looking forward to the same enthusiasm and participation from our athletes. The Open workouts are inclusive, will have an option for scaled AND masters athletes (AKA older athletes), and will challenge you to tackle your weaknesses and push hard on your strengths. And few things can beat the unbelievable energy and camaraderie that transpires over the course of The Open workouts hosted at AR.
"But I'm still pretty new to CrossFit, and I'm so far from being considered a 'high level' CrossFitter... should I participate in The Open?" Assuming you are healthy (i.e. injury free) and training fairly consistently (at least 3x per week on average), then the answer is likely YES! We always like to use the example of entering a 5K or 10K running race as an analogy - nearly everyone who enters a 5K or 10K (or even a marathon for that matter) knows they probably won't win, but they participate and compete anyway. Why? Because it gives them an opportunity to train for something and get better, to compete with and support friends new and old, and to learn a lot about what you're actually capable of... often times it's more than you think.
More details to come but if you have immediate questions please speak with a coach at the gym! When you register please make sure to SELECT ARENA READY AS YOUR AFFILIATE.
So what are you waiting for? Are you IN THE OPEN?
A look back at Open 16.1 at Arena Ready three years ago
WOD For 02-04-19:
“Seriously, Karen, Cut it Out”
On a Running Clock…
A) At 0:00
For Time:
50 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
40 Toes-to-Bar
30 Deadlifts @ 155/110 lbs
20 Hang Power Cleans
10 Shoulder-to-Overhead
B) At 17:00
For Time:
100 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft