More Sweat Shop t-shirts have just arrived. If you weren’t able to get the size or color you wanted the first time around, there are now plenty more shirts available. The women’s shirt is a Bella brand, while the men’s is a Hanes ringspun cotton. Men’s shirts are now available in 2XL. Shirts are $25 each.
________________________
Monday’s WOD:
“Fight Gone Bad”
(3) 5 minute rounds consisting of 1 minute at each station with 1 minute rest after each round.
Score as many total reps as possible
Big thanks to everyone who came out to the Fran-Off Tournament this Saturday. An especially big thanks to Mike “MJ” Jenkins for developing and coordinating the entire event. Athletes from as far as Sacramento came to compete in the two person, randomly drawn team event, with $1000 prize money! I was lucky enough to draw Tamara Holmes (CrossFit Oakland) as my partner, and together we took 1st place! Thanks for carrying me in the finals T!
Also big thanks to Tom Campitelli for coming out to photograph the event. Check out all the photos here.
_______________________
Friday’s WOD:
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of the following:
12 KB Swings
6 Burpees
6 Ring Dips
12 Box Jumps
*leave enough time at the end to complete (1) 403 meter run without going over the 20 minute time limit
Please help me in welcoming our newest “members” to the gym.
500lbs. of MHTY Bumper Plates
200lbs. of iron weight
more kettlebells
more dumbbells
more Powermax bands for assisted pullups and dips
3 more Rogue Olympic Barbells
A new “AC” unit
New equipment on the horizon: Bay door mounted pullup bar, more Dynamax Medicine Balls, more ceiling mounted rings for all the new members of the muscle up club, smaller plyometric boxes, Concept 2 Rower.
Post to comments your equipment requests.
** Reminder ** Fran Off: Saturday morning 11am. 9:30am class WILL be held as usual.
After warming up, alternate between one set of deadlifts (5 reps), and one set of press/push press/ push jerk (3/3/3). Rest as needed between sets,(no rest during press/push press/push jerk) continue until 5 sets of each exercise are complete.
The deadlift is possibly the most functional lift you can learn. Learning to perform it correctly in the gym will undoubtely carry over into proper lifting technique in your daily activities. Even if you’ve seen this video before, it pays to watch it again. Many people are still having issues with their body weight shifting forward as the bar is lowered past the knees. This error takes the hamstrings and glute muscles out of the equation which is something we want to avoid at all cost! Keeping our hips back, shoulders over the bar, bar close to the body, and weight on our heels will put more of the load on our glutes and hamstrings, and less on our knee joint and low back. Watch the video, then watch it again. Then watch it a third time, because I know the first two times you couldn’t keep your eyes off of Brandon Banks, the creepo lurking in the background not able to take his eyes off of me.
Performance props to Jennifer for setting a new 4×4 record for the females, as well as Don for crushing the guys 4×4 record and then going on to turn in 4 more sub 3 minute rounds. Insane!
I often hear women say they are intimidated by the thought of training at a CrossFit gym. Most of them believe it is a gym predominately for men and that it just involves lots of weightlifting and grunting. Many women, and men, feel like a traditional gym is a friendlier environment, and being surrounded by a hundred or so people gives them the illusion of being in a community of sorts. Unfortunately for most, a trip to the gym ends up being an isolated experience among many other isolated individuals. Headphones, televisions, and closed captions allow many to go through their entire workout without saying a single word to another gym goer.
The experience at a CrossFit gym is the complete opposite. Only one small class going at any given time. Each class is lead by a trainer who coordinates the warmup, skill development, workout, and finisher (when applicable). Even better is the interaction between members. Men and women of all ages and all fitness levels workout side by side encouraging one another. One thing you won’t find at CrossFit (which is rather prevalant at typical health clubs) are guys who are there just to pick up on the ladies. Trust me, the challenging workouts ensure that the members’ primary goal is improving their fitness. That’s not to say you won’t meet some nice people at CrossFit Sweat Shop, and if you choose to use your precious 4 minutes of rest between rounds of 400 meter row and 403 meter run to chat with a member of the opposite sex, go right ahead, just know that he or she may save their breath in order to smoke you on the next round!
Here’s another reason why you should stay out of regular health clubs. Yahoo’s like this.
________________________
Tuesday’s WOD:
Row 350 meters
then 4 Rounds of:
15 Wall Balls
15 Summo-Deadlift High Pulls
10 Box Jumps
15 Knees to Elbow
What: Fran Off (16 teams of 2 compete in head to head match-ups for $1000 prize money.
When: This Saturday, August 8th at 11am
Where: CrossFit Sweat Shop – 1401 Autocenter Dr. Walnut Creek, CA
Requirements:$45 entry fee (paid in $1 bills) Also, must be able to perform at least (5) CHEST TO BAR PULLUPS and thrusters at Rx’d weight, 65lbs. for women, 95lbs. for men.
Why is Fran so popular/effective/tough? Here’s why: the rep scheme, the loads, and the choice of exercises allows one to move through the workout at an rather high rate of speed. Most of the major muscle groups are taxed during these two movements and because of the short duration of the workout the intensity stays at an extremely high level. The result is a mindnumbing workout that takes just minutes to perform (top performers can complete the entire workout in just over two minutes!) but can take an hour or more to recover from.
________________________
Monday’s WOD:
Hang Power Clean 5-5-5
Squat Clean 5-5-5-5
perform all 3 sets of Hang Power Cleans first, resting as much as necessary b/t sets, then perform all 4 sets of Squat Cleans, resting as much as necessary b/t sets.
Here’s a video of a recent Saturday workout at CrossFit Sweat Shop that consisted of some exercises in the gym, then out onto the Contra Costa Canal Trail for a run with some suprise exercises along the way. The workout ended with more squat cleans and a few wall balls.
Fitness Tip: Not everyone is fortunate enough to be a member at CrossFit Sweat Shop and have someone place dumbbells and kettlebells along their run path. But even without these devices you can always increase the effectivness of your run by sprinkling in some pushups, squats, or burpees. Another option is to plan your run so that it passes by a playground, there you can throw in some pullups and perhaps some plyometric jumps onto a park bench.
________________________
Friday’s WOD:
Use 7 minutes to perform the following:
(1) 403m Run
1 set of max reps body weight bench press or pushups
1 set of max reps pullups
REPEAT every 7 minutes for a total of 4 Rounds. You determine how long to rest between run, bench press/pushups and pullups. However, the order must stay RUN, BENCH/PUSH, PULLUPS, and you must leave for the run every 7 minutes.
120 Deadlifts
80 Burpee Knees to Elbow
(12) 403m Run
80 Single Arm KB Sotts Squats
200 Wall Balls
Mike B’s team finished 1st with a time of 17:22
Performance props to CrossFit newcomer Amy G. for completing (3) 403 meter runs and moving through more than her share of those dreaded Burpee Knee to Elbows. Awesome work Amy!
