Workout of the Day
It's Not Too Late! And You Have Options!
You still have time to register for the 2019 CrossFit Games Open at Arena Ready!
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, or for some reason you just found out that your gym has a daily blog which (among other things) posts the WOD and some helpful gym news, here are some helpful links:
Click here to get the 411 on what the Open is all about. You can also register on that CrossFit Games website (registration is $20 and make sure to select Arena Ready CrossFit as your affiliate… no need to select a “team” this year).
Click here to read more about the Open at Arena Ready, and click here to get the details of how we’ll run our Open Saturdays for the next 5 weeks.
If you’re still on the fence then click here or talk to a coach at the gym.
If you’re not sure you can do the Open because you won’t be here for any of the next 5 Saturdays then WE HAVE GREAT NEWS FOR YOU:
We will have 2 alternative options to do the week’s Open workout if you cannot make it on Saturday morning:
Thursday evening @ 6pm
Sunday Open Gym @ 9am or 10am
Also, there are over 15,000 CrossFit affiliates around the world and it’s highly likely that one of them is close to where you’ll be traveling and that they too will be doing the Open for their members:
Use the CrossFit Affiliate Finder Map here to find a gym
Read this blog post first to make sure you’re not inadvertently being an A-hole when you drop-in (I know you’re not an A-hole, but they may not know that)
As Open 19.1 approaches we change gears a little mid-week… Monday and Tuesday’s “meat & potatoes” of strength endurance work, intensity pieces, and bodyweight & barbell cycling makes a transition into a Wednesday program of pre-hab/shoulder recovery plus some station rotation aerobic work with the skill element of double under volume built-in. Enjoy!
WOD For 02-20-19:
Alternating EMOM For 3 Rounds (Minutes):
8 Light (or Empty) Barbell Upright Rows
8 Kettlebell “Bottoms Up” Kneeling Presses (8 each side)
4 PERFECT Inchworms to Plank
*This is FOR QUALITY and not for speed or loading — focus on moving perfectly and with intent
-then-
4 Rounds For Reps (0:45 Seconds Work Per Movement / 0:15 Seconds Rest Between Movements):
Russian Kettlebell Swings @ 70/53 lbs
Double Unders
AbMat Sit-ups
Row Calories
(Rest 1:15 Between Rounds)
*Score this workout like “Tabata” by noting your LOWEST rep count for each of the movement across all 4 rounds.
Coach Rob: Why I'm Doing the 2019 Open
The 2019 CrossFit Games Worldwide Open officially starts on Thursday with the 5pm announcement of the first of five workouts ("19.1"). For a number of reasons -- not the least of which being the incredible environment at Arena Ready every year around this time -- it’s going to be an awesome ride these next five weeks. As we've covered previously we will be doing the Open workouts as rolling heats during our Saturday classes over the next five weekends (just as we have done in previous years), so the energetic "Open Saturdays at Arena Ready" will be in full swing during this next month.
In previous years, we’ve shared stories of AR members and coaches (and athletes from other affiliate gyms) and their reasons why they’re doing The Open… and why exactly they want to take part in the largest global competition of fitness. I thought I'd share my thoughts once again this year as we approach the 19.1 announcement.
I'm doing The Open for many reasons.
First of all I'm doing The Open because I believe in measuring things. What gets measured gets done. What doesn't get measured becomes anecdotal speculation - "I could have...", "I would have...", "I was this..." or "I was that..." blah blah blah. In those cases you'll never really know. It's kind of like Uncle Rico saying he could throw that football over those there mountains, and if only coach would have put him in they woulda' won state. I don't want to BS myself, I want to know. I want to see where I am at this point in time, what I'm able to accomplish, and what I still need to work on moving forward - I want real numbers, not talk. I understand that my scores don't define me as a person, they are simply data points which tell me how I'm doing right now - relative to others in the fitness world, relative to my friends at the gym, relative to my buddies in the broader CrossFit community, and most importantly relative to myself. Am I fitter than I was last year, three years ago, five years ago? Can I point to things/events/developments in my life that have influenced my training and fitness in positive or not so positive ways? Can I rationalize that major life events had an impact on my fitness, and am I ok with that - or do I want to change the course of things moving forward? Some years have been better than others for me, and I would say that the last few have been some of the most challenging (read: I laid a few eggs during the last several years in The Open). But every year I play anyway, because I want to look at that board and see what I'm capable of... even if I think my best is still ahead of (or behind) me. Sitting on the sidelines isn't my style, even if I can't be the star.
This year will be very different for me than any other year -- I'm 14 months post hip surgery, 13 months in on an exciting new career challenge that has enriched my mental focus, and Sarah and I obviously have the little one who was born just after the 2018 Open wrapped up. So while last year I was severely limited by what I literally COULD NOT do (i.e. was not actually allowed to), I'm motivated this year to find out what it is I CAN do in light of what life has thrown at me (and blessed me with) since the close of last season… i.e. I’m healthy and cleared to do almost everything, but my training and fitness have certainly not been a top priority.
This will be my NINTH consecutive Open (I've participated in them all), and before my first one I even participated in the Sectional qualifier competition which, at the time, was the feed-in for the Regional level. I was fortunate enough to compete on a Regional Affiliate Team twice, even though I look back now and think I still had no idea what I was doing in many ways. Thanks to The Open and Sectionals, and the workouts/events they challenged me with, I can tell you what my fitness looked like every year for the last ten years - I know what I could do well and what crushed me. I remember movements seeming impossible that now seem routine, and alternatively I remember certain workout combinations being great for me that perhaps today, for whatever reason, are harder than they should be. It's safe to say that I'm more skilled in movements now than I ever was, that I move better across the board, that I understand strategy and pacing and training better than I did, but that my engine (my ability to "go" or to hit that 2nd or 3rd gear) and strength levels have seen peaks and valleys over the years. And I'm OK with that. I'm not a CrossFit Games athlete, far from it. I'm not even anywhere near the universe of what would have been a Regional-level athlete anymore. Some days I entertain the idea of competing as a Masters athlete, and I used to think I had a little time since the Masters divisions started at 40 until they changed the Masters starting age to 35 in 2017. THANKS A LOT CROSSFIT… WHERE WAS THAT SIX YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS KILLING IT AT 35???!!! Kidding, I wasn't actually killing it. But it’s fun to sometimes think I was.
If I ever want to be serious about being a competitive Masters athlete I'll need to get the ol' hip strong once again and then step-up my training big time. But for right now I'm cool with my athletic competition career taking back seat to my family, my career, and honing my coaching craft. As my ability to teach and understand fitness has improved immensely, my ability to compete (or even just hang) with the big boys in CrossFit has declined proportionally (haha). But hey, I'm 41 years old and can still sniff a 6-minute mile, deadlift 2.5x my bodyweight, and play for days (assuming the activity or sport is not in the water) -- I'm the fittest one by far in my circle of friends I grew up with (you know, normal people... non-CrossFitters). And even though I'm no longer the wannabe firebreather I once was, I want to celebrate what I know I'm still capable of, be thankful for it, and continue to make small, incremental gains for as long as I can... even as life sometimes makes that difficult.
I'm doing the Open because I love the sound of my wife's voice when she tells me, "good job, babe" as I'm lying on the floor in exhaustion after giving everything I had (even if this year it's not that much). I can hear the sincerity in her tone. She's the elite CrossFitter, not me, but she knows that regardless of level, or how fit I am versus how fit I once was, that this stuff is hard as hell... and she appreciates that I still do it so that I can be a better version of me. A better husband. A better father. Sarah and Avery are my reason, not my excuse.
I'm doing the Open because Arena Ready is my home, and it's also home to a lot of people I deeply care about. Just as I can hear the proud tone in my wife's voice when she's telling me I did great, I can also hear the supportive cheers and screaming of my friends who understand the pain of being uncomfortable -- and who understand the growth and change that comes with putting yourself in that situation over and over again. Without challenge there is no change. This is my my crew -- I've been to their weddings (and once was even honored to officiate); I've traveled near and far with them to compete, cheer, coach, and support; I've spent years with them, learning and understanding, trying to make us all better. These are the people I would call if ever I needed real help in life -- and no doubt they would be there for me. This is my family. No fucking way I would ever miss this experience with them. I want them to hear my proud voice too, because I know the challenge they are undertaking. Being comfortable with uncomfortable is a noble pursuit, and I stand in their corner.
I'm doing the Open because I like to talk shit to my friends, and I like it when they return the favor. I used to flirt with the idea that JUST MAYBE every single workout would have muscle-ups and/or handstand push-ups and thus I'd somehow finish ahead of Big Tony for once when all is said and done (ain't gonna happen). And even though Grant has long since moved and recently added child #2 to his family -- and (much like Grant) Walker has continued to stay fitter than I would sometimes like even during fatherhood -- I still have plenty of friends at Arena Ready to chase. My current state of fitness also puts me in a fun situation where I'll be trying to essentially chase everyone who's entered, and that should be interesting as I attempt to strategize my way through the workouts in a fashion that maximizes my score but also keeps me safe. We have a long list of men and women who work their asses off and (even when I'm training regularly) can school me in any given workout on any given day, and it’s their dedication to bettering themselves that pushes me harder, and makes we want to cheer for them to blow me out of the water. I could go on and on about the folks at AR that push me, and how much I enjoy jabbing at them in good fun, but this post is already too long and I don't want to start naming the dozens of people who should be mentioned.
Finally, I'm doing the Open because I was taught that NO MATTER WHAT YOU KEEP SHOWING UP, especially when it comes to something you love. So even though my fitness may not be where I want it to be -- and even though there is a laundry list of things I still want to be better at -- I'm ready to participate and do my best. I can't wait to cheer, and coach, and high five, and I feel blessed to able to experience it all in our own gym. I'm ready to try hard, not take myself too seriously, and be happy for my friends that smoke me (after I insult their shitty taste in shoes or ugly workout face, of course). I could get wrapped up in the "stress" of The Open that people sometimes create for themselves, but I've never really been that type of competitor. This is my Open, and my fitness, and my journey. And really, the journey is all there is.
Bring it on, 19.1.
WOD For 02-19-19:
For Time:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Power Clean & Jerks @ 155/105 lbs
***Complete 1 Round of “Cindy” after each set of Clean & jerks (for a total of 10 rounds of Cindy)
(Compare to 02-20-18, 02-21-17, 02-06-16 @ 135/95 lbs, 11-29-14 Gladiators, 06-10-13, 01-24-13, 10-11-12)
Holiday Schedule + Lost & Found Last Call
Last call for our gym Lost & Found — please be sure to check and see if any of your loot is in there before we donate the rest.
Also, a reminder about our Presidents Day holiday class schedule on Monday:
The 6:00am and 7:00pm CrossFit classes are cancelled.
A special 1:00pm CrossFit class has been added!!!
You never really know what the Open will bring each week, and now that Open 19.1 is just around the corner (the WOD will be announced on Thursday evening, and we’ll be doing it as a gym on Saturday morning) we front-load the early part of the week with some “meat and potatoes” — AKA strength maintenance/endurance work and short-medium domain intensity. We uphold that basic concept every year at this time and it has served us well…
Enjoy!
WOD For 02-18-19:
Back Squat:
15 Minutes to Build to a Heavy Set of 8, Then…
5 Minutes For 2 “Drop” (or ‘Down”) Sets @ 85% and 80% of Your Heavy Set
-then-
For Time:
42-30-18
Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
21-15-9
Burpee Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
If you’re an Rx athlete then these wall balls should probably be unbroken. Don’t get too cute with your sets and gaming of the reps. Just sayin.
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)