Coming Soon: Olympic Weightlifting Drop-In Sessions
CJ at the top of a clean.
For those who competed in the Open Sectionals, I want to congratulate you all as you gave a valiant effort over the past 6 weeks. Staying motivated for the 6-week long competition got pretty darn tough physically and mentally, but you all stayed determined and put forth awesome performances. Be proud of yourselves.
Now that the stress of the sectionals is over, it’s time to get back into the regular swing of things. For many of us, the sectionals taught us many things about our strengths and weaknesses. One that stood out to Nabil and I, was how much more work we need on our olympic Lifts (Clean & Jerk and Snatch). Because of their complexity, working on olympic lifts need to be a weekly routine, whether at the Sweat Shop or elsewhere. Once every month or so just isn’t enough to hone in the movements. So, given that we had a great turnout of Sweat Shoppers joining us in the sectional workouts with us every week, we are planning on holding weekly olympic lifting drop-in sessions.
Here’s how it will go down:
- Each session will be scheduled on a week by week basis upon availability.
- Each session will be around mid-day and will be one-hour long.
- The open gym will be for working on olympic Lifting ONLY.
- Nabil and I will also be working out during this time
- Each session will be announced on the Sweat Shop FACEBOOK profile. We strongly encourage those who want to make each session to add CrossFit Sweat Shop as a “Friend” on facebook.
This is a great opportunity for those who want to improve their olympic lifts to practice the lifts, get some feedback, as well as watch others perform them. Keep your eyes peeled on our facebook page for the first session.
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Legitness of the Week
Clean PR’s
Dustin 150×1
Jin 215×1
Joel 195×1
Nik 225
Back Squat PR’s
Dustin 150×3
Katherine 115×3
Joe S. 215×3
Rob K. 185×3
Donna D. 140X3
Kasi 150×3
Ron 193×3
Scott 173×3
Colt 203×3
Steve 235×3
- Jessica (13:18) and JB (12:29) have their way with “Nancy”. *Sweat Shop Records*
- Looking “so fresh and so clean” Joe W. finally gets a haircut.
- Mufasa Mike S. refuses to engage in an “extremely easy” snatch WOD and performs “The Custom WOD” with fat bar deadlifts, bench press, tire flips, and wall balls (all things a lion needs to maintain his pack).
- Rather than sleep in, bathe in the spring break vacation sun, or sip virgin margaritas by the pool, Dustin, our lone high school Sweat Shopper, decides to spend his spring break in the Sweat Shop at 6am!
- Josh gets a lesson from the “Beast” to not leave his log book out!
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Friday’s WOD:
A.) Clean
1-1-1-1-1
B.) CrossFit Games Open WOD #6
As many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme of:
3 Thrusters
3 Chest to bar pullups
6 Thrusters
6 Chest to bar pullups
9 Thrusters
9 Chest to bar pullups
12 Thrusters
12 Chest to bar pullups
ect.
*Continue on until time is up.
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Thursday’s WOD:
“Nancy”
5 Rounds
403m Run
15 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
Purpose of CrossFit
Running around in some random field – Denmark 2006
Two weeks ago many Sweat Shop members made the trip up to South Lake Tahoe to compete in the 2011 Fittest of the Sierras. JB and I left early Friday morning, arrived just after 12pm, checked in, grabbed our skis and snowboard, and hit the mountain. Although I haven’t been snowboarding all year, and only went once last year, it felt as though I’d never taken a day off! Aside from it being great fun, I was extremely happy with how fresh my legs felt during, and even the next day. I’m convinced that the training I’ve been doing in the gym, helped me to have a more enjoyable time on the mountain. The only thing that would have made it better would have been sunshine and blue skies, hence the random picture above. Now I’ll get to my point.
CrossFit is awesome for many reasons. The physical and mental challenge of the workouts. The feeling of accomplishment after the workout. The post workout buzz or euphoria. The physical and mental health benefits. The local community support from within the gym. The CrossFit community of nearby gyms. The national and international CrossFit community. And, as I was able to benefit from, the ability to enjoy recreational activities, and/or do them better or with less soreness or aches and pains. When any or all of these things are your primary reason for doing CrossFit, you will likely experience life-long enjoyment and fulfillment from participating in CrossFit. However, if your primary goal is to be the best male or female during your class time, best performance on the whiteboard for that day, make it on to the leaderboard, qualify for the CrossFit Games, or any other accomplishment that involves gaining praise or the respect from others, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Before I go any further, let me reiterate that the previously mentioned motivators should not be your PRIMARY goal. Many of them are inherent to CrossFit and several of them are exactly what enables us to push much harder than what we would normally be capable of, especially during those really tough workouts. So having them as motivators, not primary goals, is perfectly healthy. I know what many of you are thinking right now, “….making the leaderboard, being the first to finish the workout, etc. isn’t my primary goal.” But if during a workout you find yourself looking for ways to make a movement easier, or performing questionable range of motion, or after a workout you find yourself disappointed with your results, when you compare it to others, your head is simply in the wrong place. The simple fact is, no matter how much you improve, or how good you get, there will likely be others that are better than you, and thus your insecurities or feelings of inferiority will never end. CrossFit, and exercise in general is an excellent way to have fun and reduce stress, if you are stressed out and/or not having fun, it’s time to re-evaluate why you are doing this.
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Wednesday’s WOD:
A.) Snatch
3-3-3-3-3
B.) 800m Run
then 3 Rounds of:
15 KB Swings
7 Burpees
Pastured Eggs
Recently, I cut out yogurt from my diet and replaced it by eating eggs, and since yogurt was what I ate for breakfast every morning, I’m now eating a lot of eggs. For quite a while now I’ve been purchasing free range, organic eggs, but this post, along with recommendations from Nathan, has convinced me to seek out pastured eggs. Pastured eggs may be difficult to find in most stores, but Whole Foods in Walnut Creek does carry pastured eggs from Shelly’s Farm, a local Brentwood farm. Thanks to the guys at Diablo CrossFit for the heads up on this post.
Excerpt:
I knew supermarket eggs were bad. The chickens are crowded in cages. They don’t even have room to move or turn around. They’re pumped with antibiotics and fed genetically modified feed. They’re sick and very unhealthy — which is why it’s so common to find salmonella with factory farm chickens and eggs.
So I always bought “organic” “free range” eggs. It was about a year and a half ago that I discovered truly pastured eggs. The definition of “free range” or “cage free” is that they give the chickens “access to the outdoors”. What does that mean? Uh, nothing. Do they really go outside? No, usually not. They’re crowded into large, windowless sheds and they rarely ever go outside.
They may be “organic” and “cage free” but these are not truly healthy birds. Since they’re not given antibiotics, they are very susceptible to disease. The people who work at these “big organic” chicken farms have to wear cleanroom suits when they go in to visit the birds.
Read full post here.
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Tuesday’s WOD:
A.)Back Squat
3-3-3-3-3
B.) As many rounds as possible in 9 minutes:
3 Muscle Ups
6 Burpees
12 Single Arm KB Squats
Alcohol
Mufasa Mike has come a long way in terms of his strength, flexibility and overall fitness. However, he has only scratched the surface of what he is truly capable of.
“If you’ve been doing CrossFit for any significant amount of time and you are stuck on something like not being able to do a pullup, always complaining about being sore, not “leaning out” or feel like you’re getting weaker…it most likely is a problem with your nutrition, alcohol intake, & sleep.”
Read full post here.
**I’ll be filling in at CrossFit Adventure on Wednesday for their 12:30pm class. Any Sweat Shoppers who’d like to get a midday workout in come on by! Also, we’ll be doing CrossFit Open Workout #6 at CrossFit Adventure at 1:30pm, immediately after the 12:30pm class.
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Monday’s WOD:
4 Rounds
15 Ring Dips
15 Deadlifts (225/155)
403m Run
How To Get “cut”
Mike B. performing CrossFit Open Workout #2
Apparently hard work and nutrition have little to do with having low body fat. Check out this post on Fox News Health for a list of sports that will get you “cut” without adding too much of that pesky stuff called muscle. Thanks to TomC for this great find!
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Saturday’s WOD:
9am
“Chip-a-riffic”
403m Run
30 KB Swings
30 Box Jumps
30 Pushups
200m Run
25 Knees to Elbow
25 Single Arm KB Squats
25 Situps
70m Run
20 Pullups
15 KB Walking Lunges
10 Burpees
*perform (3) rope climbs at some point during workout
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10am
A.) Bench Press
5-5-5-5-5
Weighted Pullup
2-2-2-2-2
B.) Alternating Tabata
Pushups
Single Arm KB Squat
Jason gets his first muscle up!
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Legitness of the Week
Overhead Squat PR’s
Chris J 135×2
Matt M. 165×2
Trish 95×2
Michelle 80×2
Donna C. 110×2
Kirstin 90×2
Bryan K. 110×2
Melaney 95×2
Tammy 110×2
Jake 105×2
Dustin 125×2
Patrick 165×2
Jason 205×2
-JB 370 Fight Gone Bad *Sweat Shop Record*
-Although kipping pullups have been performed with ease for sometime now, Kirstin finally reaches her goal of unassisted strict pullup!
-Despite unknowingly ordering a soy burger after an entire day’s worth of CrossFit competition, Patrick refuses to let the almost certain adverse effects of soy, as a post workout meal, ruin his always positive attitude!
-Jason … MUSCLE UP!!!!
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Friday’s WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 18 minutes:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats
*start with a 3 rep deadlift (~80 – 85% of 3 rep max) and perform a set of 3 reps every 2 minutes throughout the duration of the 18 minutes
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Thursday’s WOD:
Fight Gone Bad!
3 Rounds
1 minute of each exercise:
Wall Balls
Summo Deadlift High Pull (75/55)
Box Jump
Push Press (75/55)
Row for Calories
REST 1 minute after completing entire round
Got Complaints?
Think twice before you complain about how difficult certain exercises are, or how you just aren’t good at certain movements.
Check out this video of Hector Delgado doing CrossFit Open workout #2.
( Windows / Mac )
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Wednesday’s WOD:
A.) Overhead Squat
2-2-2-2-2
B.) 3 1/2 minutes to complete:
403m Run
Max Reps Double Unders
2 1/2 minutes to complete:
200m Run
Max Reps KB Swings
1 1/2 minutes to complete:
70m Run
Max Reps Burpees
*no rest between rounds
Hero Workouts
U.S. Army First Sergeant Michael “Hammer” Bordelon
“To the average CrossFitter, Hero workouts are symbolic gestures of respect for our fallen. CrossFitters from all over the world, regardless of country or allegiance, throw themselves wholeheartedly at these intentionally gut-wrenching workouts that serve as a tribute to our lost protectors.”
Read full article here.
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Tuesday’s WOD:
“Hammer”
5 Rounds
5 Power Cleans (135/95)
10 Front Squats
5 Push Jerks
20 Pullups
REST 90 seconds
Afternoon Personalities
For all the morning Sweat Shoppers that can’t make it to the afternoon class, meet some of the “Dirty 5:30″ Sweat Shoppers. No matter how tough the WOD seems to be, they always like to make some fun out of it. Watch out for the “Early Bird” video soon to follow….
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Monday’s WOD:
403 m Run
24 Kettlebell Swings
24 Push-ups
24 Toes-to-Bars
24 Single Arm Kettlebell Squats
200 m Run
18 Kettlebell Swings
18 Push-ups
18 Toes-to-Bars
18 Single Arm Kettlebell Squats
70 m Run
12 Kettlebell Swings
12 Push-ups
12 Toes-to-Bars
12 Single Arm Kettlebell Squats
Fittest of the Sierras – Results & Pics
Team Sweat Shop at South Tahoe CrossFit – Fittest of the Sierras 2011
Big props to all the Sweat Shop members that competed this weekend at South Tahoe CrossFit Fittest of the Sierras 2011. It was a long, but fun day, filled with 3 workouts, and several people PR’d during the workouts. Also, big thanks to Kasi, Matt, Melaney, and Kirstin, who came up to support and cheer on those competing.
Fittest of the Sierras:
Workout #1
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes:
60 Bar facing burpees
30 Overhead Squats (120/90)
10 Muscle Ups
Workout #2
10 minute time limit:
1 Rep Max Snatch
Workout #3
15 minutes:
1000m Row, then:
As many rounds as possible
6 Deadlift (225/155)
12 Wallballs
Check out pictures that Kasi took here.
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Saturday’s WOD:
21-15-9
Front Squat
Pushup
*403m Run between each round
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Friday’s WOD:
A.) Push Jerk
1-1-1-1-1
B.) 4 Rounds
90 seconds each round to complete:
12 KB Swings
70m Run
Box Jumps for REPS
*no rest between rounds
Expectations
Josh has only one expectation when he enters the Sweat Shop; to go all out.
Everyday we face new challenges. In the midst of these challenges, we sometimes get overwhelmed by setting such high expectations for ourselves and become unsatisfied with ANY result we didn’t expect. In the spirit of the competitions going on, here’s an awesome post by CrossFit Lisbeth speaking to how expectations can be the root to our successes and failures:
We do it to ourselves.
We have these expectations. They live in our heads, not in someone else’s. And they tell us what we think, what we want to have happen . . . and that’s the good thing — these expectations are our hopes, our dreams, our spirits untrammeled. “I’m going to get 15 of those squats unbroken.” “I will get a muscle-up.” “All A’s this semester. All A’s.” “He’s the one.”
Expectations can be fantastic things: their very existence tells us that we are alive, that something called hope still burns brightly somewhere within us. And hope ain’t no joke: it keeps us breathing some days.
But there can be a problem with expectations. They can bite us in the ass. And keep on biting. Because when they’re not met — for whatever reason, whether it is our own failing or that of someone else — often we stay at the scene and beat ourselves up over what we could have done better. We assess the difference between what we expected to happen and what actually did — and then we linger. And the lingering is what gets us in trouble. It feeds our ego but produces nothing.
The seed of tomorrow’s victory certainly lives in what we learn today, but not if we’re stupid and mired in our failures. So, stop gazing at your own reflection and look up. The world is alive with other possibilities. Grab one of them. Act.
Read full post here.
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Legitness of the Week
Deadlift PR’s
Dustin 185×5
Rob K. 245×5
Sean 295×5
Kirstin 140×5
Amy G. 155X5
Valerie 140×5
Melaney 145×5
Kasi 175×5
Tom 228×5
Ron 230×5
Shoulder Press PR’s
Jeff 115×3
Eric 105×2
Back Squat PR’s
Mike B. 235×3
Lones 195×3
Jennifer 150×3
Matt M. 245×3
Dustin 165×3
Donna C. 175×3
Trish 130×3
Patrick 295×3
Nancy 95×3
Laney 120×3
Tom 205×3
Joe W. 245×3
Colt 185×3
Jason 255×3
Helen 200×3
Jin 260×3
-J.B. surpasses snatch goal with 180×1.
-Josh hits a double day on monday.
-Jake surpasses unassisted pullup goal.
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Friday’s WOD:
A.) Push Jerk
1-1-1-1-1
B.) 4 Rounds
90 Seconds each round:
12 KB Swings
70m Run
Box Jumps for REPS
*No rest between sets*
results:
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Thursday’s WOD:
A.) Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5
B.) 403m Run
15 Pullups or 8 Muscle Ups
5 Burpees
200m Run
20 Box Jumps
5 Burpees
70m Run
25 KB Swings
5 Burpees
Tahoe Competition This Weekend!
Helen and I during a trail run last year in Tahoe where the altitude made a noticeable difference on our run pace.
Several Sweat Shop members will be competing this weekend in South Lake Tahoe’s Fittest of the Sierra’s competition. It should be fun and interesting to see the role that higher altitude plays into our performances. And by fun I mean horrible.
According to High Altitude Living, “people may feel effects from higher altitudes as low at 4000 ft above sea level. Usually by 6000 ft, they will experience more fatigue, and a greater potential for dehydration.” These effects occur because the air is thinner at higher altitudes, which creates an oxygen deficit that can inhibit regular physical activities-until one’s body adapts to the higher altitude.
Read full article here.
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Wednesday’s WOD:
4 Rounds
1 minute of each exercise:
MAX REPS Bench Press
MAX REPS Front Squat
MAX REPS Pullup
REST 3 minutes after completing entire round
Rx’d Bench Press & Front Squat: Men 100% Bodyweight, Women 65% Bodyweight
Free Seminar at CrossFit Adventure
Just a reminder, our good friend Nathan will be holding a free seminar at his gym, CrossFit Adventure, this Thursday evening. Check it out!
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Tuesday’s WOD:
4 Rounds
4 minutes each round to complete:
300m Row
12 Thrusters (95/65)
12 Knees to Elbow
Double Unders for REPS
REST 2 minutes between rounds
Weightlifting to rehab & prevent back injury
Jin performing CrossFit Open Workout #2 at CFO, maintaining a neutral spine, as he always does during deadlifts
Excerpt from article:
I propose that the rehabilitation and prevention of non-specific lower-back pain is dependent on the mechanically correct patterning of fundamental human movement. Though not immediately apparent, elements of Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting neatly fulfill this required motor patterning.
Controversial? Perhaps, but there is no place for contrived and invented movements in creating a buffer from injury. Fundamental movements are natural and are “no more contrived than a sneeze,”to quote Greg Glassman.
Let me first outline my empirically based philosophies on the matter, then review the literature supporting these concepts.Activating the Right Muscles
Let us not think of exercises in terms of their anatomical recruitments but in terms of their movements. A deadlift becomes a lift to the waist. A clean becomes a lift to shoulder height. A press becomes a lift to overhead. A squat becomes a stand from a chair.To detractors of the squat, the question must be posed as to how a patient is to stand from a chair. Detractors of the deadlift should consider the best method of picking up an object from the floor. The answers, respectively, are squat and deadlift. It is guaranteed that a patient will at some stage perform these movements as part of activities of daily living. Surely it is a professional obligation to teach them how to execute these movements correctly in a clinical setting so they may move safely when these movements inevitably rear themselves in life.
The common thread between the proposed movements is the ability to maintain neutral spine with the addition of external perturbations and complex motor patterning. Here lies the immediate red flag. Should neutral spine be lost, the body is prone to damage and deformity. As with any exercise with the potential to elicit any degree of favorable response from the body, risk is present. The key lies in minimizing this risk through gradual and progressive repetition of the basics of movement without load.
Read full article here.
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Monday’s WOD:
A.) Back Squat
2-2-2-2-2
B.) As many rounds as possible in 8 minutes:
10 KB Swings (53/35)
10 Pushups
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