January 2011 Archives

Three pillars to a successful CrossFit experience:

This Sunday, Feb 6, from 3:00-5:00pm CLE athletes / rowing coaches Justin Kershaw and Craig Gates will be hosting a Concept 2 based rowing seminar. --  Perfect timing for the Hammer Ergatta 2k competition just one week later on Feb 13. The ergatta is a unique event because all the Conecpt 2's are linked electronically with a real time virtual "boat race" projected on the big screen (notice in the background of this video below).

3 rounds for time:

10 Deadlift (275/185)

50 Double-unders

11AM Individual WOD TBA

Sunday, Feb 13 - Hammer Ergatta (2k row)

Saturday, Feb 19 - Olympic Lifting Seminar with USAW Advanced Level Coach Dan Bell

10 min to find 3RM for push jerk

Rest 5 min then

100 pullups for time then

Rest 3 min then

Max kettlebell swings in 5 min (55/35)

CrossFit CLE athlete Jeff Brannigan (known here as JB/SK) discovered a new skill last night that he didn't know that he had (6 months of CrossFit, no former jumping practice) -- a 62.5" box jump! What's the world record again?

100ft bear crawl to start each round, followed by

10-8-6-4-2 reps of:

  Squat clean (135/95)

  Ring dips

The CrossFit Games Open is a six-week competition that will begin Tuesday, March 15th at 17:00 PDT. This competition is the first step in qualifying for the 2011 CrossFit Games. Each week, one event will be announced each Tuesday, and everyone has until the following Sunday at 17:00 PDT to complete the event and record their scores.

We'd like to pipe the live game down to the gym from a DirecTV setup far away upstairs, and use the projector to put it up on the wall for all to see. To do this over our such a long distance we need this $300 IP transmitter and $350 IP receiver. Every extra dollar that comes in right now is going towards new equipment (new Rogue pull-up rig arriving this week!) so a purchase like this is lower priority for us. Recognizing that all of our members come from vastly different financial backgrounds, are there any members willing to buy this (for yourself, for your business?) for us to borrow for that weekend? It's worth asking, right? 

2 rounds for time:
20 Thruster (95/65)
20 Knees-to-elbows
20 Kettlebell swings (55/35)
40 Hand-release push-ups
20 Knees-to-elbows
20 Kettlebell swings (55/35)
20 Overhead Squat (95/65)

The Galleria will be open for practice runs of the 38 flight Tackle the Tower event. Dates are the 25th and the 1st, from 7:30-9:00am.

The prescription: "eat lean meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar" -- CrossFit recommends 0 intake of refined sugars, as does the Cleveland Clinic who has banned sugar added foods/drinks. Having trouble cutting them from your diet? You're not alone. Consider this study: "In the experiment, 43 rats were placed in cages with two levers, one of which delivered an intravenous dose of cocaine and the other a sip of highly sweetened water. At the end of the 15-day trial, 40 of the rats consistently chose saccharin instead of cocaine."

No AM classes today. Both morning trainers are out with the flu.

blue and red (+ green at noon).

Perform 3 power clean at 80% of your 1 rep max at the top of every minute for 12 minutes

For time: 15-12-9 of

box jump (30/24)

power clean (155/105)

What if you took some of the participants from each sport [bodybuilding, CrossFit, marathon runners] and put them side-by-side? We don't have mirrors on the walls of our gym, and we train for function and performance over aesthetics... but there is a level of irony here.

Reminder: 11am WOD, 10am Olympic Lifting

20 hang squat snatch (75/45)

30 pistols

40 C2B pull-ups

30 pistols

20 hang squat snatch (75/45)

WOD
TBA at gym

AMRAP in 12 min:

10 toes-to-bar

15 box jumps (24/18)

20 double-unders

STRENGTH
Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1

6:00pm class update:
Several times over the last two weeks our 6pm class has filled beyond capacity. Beginning on Monday, Jan 17 only those who have registered online for the 6pm class will be able to work out between 6:00-7:00pm. 5:00pm and 7:00pm classes will not require registration at this time, and morning/noon/women's classes do not require registration at this time. Groupon classes do require registration. Our goal in using registrations is that we can match equipment precisely with number of people. Every two weeks we're investing in more equipment.

New today: 5 more 45lb bars from Rogue

For the 2011 CrossFit Games a $250,000 prize goes to both the fittest male and female! As announced on the CrossFit Games page, this year's sectionals are going to be video submission, with one event announced each week beginning in early March and running through April.

Good news: the largest CrossFit gyms of Northeast Ohio have teamed up to host these weekly sectional events this year, rotating locations each week. This allows all the participants to compete directly (instead of solo video performances), while still keeping things local and meeting the video requirements. The details of this have not yet been finalized, so stay tuned for more information over the next few weeks.

In preparation leading up to sectionals, we Northeast Ohio CrossFit affiliates have decided to hold a weekly throw-down. One day each week, each participating gym will host the selected NEO WOD, film the participants, and crown a winner. There will be three skill levels (A,B,C) with a winner for each level. If you want to be considered in the throw down make sure we catch you on film!

This week's NEO WOD (and our Tuesday WOD):
4 rounds for time of:

New at the gym:

A new box prototype by CrossFit CLE athlete & engineer Mike Fetsko. Pieces can be added or removed to adjust box from heights of 12" to 30". If you'd like to order one from Mike contact [email protected] for details and pricing.

Review clean technique for 15 minutes

5 rounds for time:

7 power clean (155/105)

30 air squats

7 handstand pushups

Over 200 people purchased this beginner / trial membership, and they have 4 months to activate it. We are well prepared for this! We have Groupon beginner classes set up with online registration for all of the groupons, each with a 10 person limit, beginning on Monday to be held at 7:00am, 5:30pm, and 6:30pm. These courses will be led by an additional trainer in the 2nd half of the gym and will be designed not to interrupt your regular workouts. We definitely have the space and trainers to do this. 

We appreciate you doing your best to be on time for the regular 5:00pm and 6:00pm classes so that we have less overlap, and a little more organization. And Thank You for greeting these new CrossFit'rs with the same smile and support that you have found here. =)

"Crawling Helen"

3 rounds for time:

200ft bear crawl

21 kettlebell swings (55/35)

12 pull-ups

Deadlift 3-3-3

For time:

21-15-9 reps of

Deadlift (225/155)

Wall ball (20/14)

New: Olympic Lifting Saturdays
Beginning Saturday Jan 15, USAW Certified Coach Travis Page will be hosting Olympic Lifting practice at 10:00am every Saturday (except for the occasional seminar weekend). Many of you have asked for something like this, a chance to work on the snatch, clean, and jerk with more regularity to develop the skill. The class is considered part of regular membership and any member can attend. Prerequisite: any Olympic Lifting Seminar with USAW Advanced Level Coach Dan Bell. 

Olympic Lifting practice replaces the WOD class at 10:00am and regular WOD classes will continue to be held at 11:00am on Saturdays.

AMRAP in 20 min:

10 overhead squat (115/75)

10 burpees

10 ring dips

Update: Due to low attendance at 10am, Sunday class is now 11am only. Saturdays will remain unchanged: class will be at both 10am and 11am.

New at the gym: The Reverse Hyper, designed to do wonders for back problems. (also new, two more lightweight aluminum bars)