Considering that Alex only works out 3 times a week (at most) and rarely gets the time to attempt his true max, the amount of weight he can move is beyond impressive.

**CrossFit Open starts next week, we will be programming the weekly workout to be done as our WOD on Wednesday’s, as well as offering an additional time on Friday at noon to do the workout.  If you haven’t already, REGISTER HERE!**  After you register, make sure you not only choose CrossFit Sweat Shop as your affiliate, BUT also JOIN TEAM**

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Legitness of the Week

- Nabil and Helen get engaged!
- Jason, Patrick, Rene, and Dana make it to the finals of the Sac Town Throwdown!
- Alex Overhead Squat 325×3 (Sweat Shop Record)!
- At age 59, Melia fearlessly signs up for the CrossFit Games!

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Friday’s WOD:

A.) Push Press
5-4-3-2-1

As many rounds as possible in 8 minutes:
4 Strict Press
8 Burpees
12 Walking Lunges

results:

________________

Thursday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:
4 Pistols (each leg)
8 Burpees
12 Deadlifts 185#/135#
1 Rope Climb

results:

I’m sure most of you have been wondering where the whiteboard results have gone these past two weeks. I want to assure you that the results are in no danger of abandonment and they will return back safely to the whiteboard soon. We decided to not log any results on the whiteboard for a while to see how you all would approach your training with simply logging your results in your notebook. Think about it for a second. Did you do anything different these two weeks? Did you not push as hard knowing that the results weren’t up on the board? Did you push harder knowing that you didn’t have to stress about your results being displayed? Or did you approach it the same? Nabil and I hope that you all approach everyday at the Sweat Shop with the same mindset of “I want to get better today”. Focusing on your results within yourself and your notebook is the best way to maintain this healthy mindset. It keeps your personal bests, it shows how far you’ve progressed, and in each result, it tells you everything you need to work on regardless of how others do. Too much focus on the whiteboard leads you away from this.

Yes, the whiteboard is part of the reason why CrossFit is fun. It gives you a feel for how long the workout might take, you can see how you fare against your buddies in different classes, and you get to share your personal feats with everyone. However, overemphasis on the whiteboard and over-the-top-competitiveness can play heavily to your disadvantage. Getting wrapped up into how you stack up against rest of the pack can really mess with your self-esteem, so much so that you neglect acknowledging you our genuine accomplishments. You may have heard us tell you all that getting more successful reps at a movement will actually lead you to actually grasping the movement. The same applies to giving your self-esteem a sense of success from time to time. When you have a great workout and feel better and more comfortable the last time you did it, you should be proud of yourself. You shouldn’t have to PR or get first in a workout to convince yourself that you did something worthy of praise. Stick to your logbook and get pumped about when you do something you haven’t before.

Remember, use the Sweat Shop as your training center. You TRAIN here. It is not meant to be a competition venue where you just show up, do a WOD, and see how you compare to others. You have coaches who really care about not only giving you the best technical cues, but moreso, improving your mental approach. Nabil and I don’t do this because we like playing mind games with all of you, we just really understand that regardless of how gifted or talented you are, having a positive self-esteem, confidence, and mental toughness will produce a more successful athlete and person. We want you to be both!

Also remember there will be NO CLASSES at the Sweat Shop this weekend.  However, Nathan & Carolyn from CrossFit Adventure are welcoming any Sweat Shop members to come and participate in their Saturday morning classes! (they promised no bear crawls 

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Legitness of the Week

James R. 2:28 800m (Sweat Shop Record)
Daniela 90×1 Strict Press PR

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Friday’s WOD:

3 Rounds:
7 Hang Squat Cleans (165#/115#)
403m Run

2 Rounds:
20 Deadlifts
10 Burpees

results:

________________

Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Max Effort Box Jumps in 2-minutes

B.) Shoulder Press
3-2-1-1-1

C.) As many rounds as possible in 8 minutes of:
10 KB Squats
10 Pushups (with release)

results:

Justin’s crushing performance on last year’s Open WOD#1 had Nabil’s parents and I very concerned for his barbell.

It’s that time of year! Registration for the CrossFit Games Open Qualifiers is now open! This year, the Open will officially kick off on February 22nd.  If you are unfamiliar with the Open Qualifiers, it is one of the most unique competitions in the world in that CrossFitters across the globe compete together in a 5-week competition. At the start of each week, a new workout is posted and you have until the end of the week to submit a score from either a video submission or at a nearby registered affiliate. From my experience last year, it was really awesome to be able to compete with and cheer along fellow Sweat Shoppers. Like last year, we will be hosting the workouts at the Sweat Shop, however, we will also be traveling to some of our neighboring friends who will be opening up their gym to host the workouts in a competitive head to head environment. If you are interested in competing here are the details:

- Register on the CrossFit Games site.
- Pay the one-time fee of $20 for all five weeks worth of workouts.
- After you register as an athlete, go to the Athletes / Team tab, find the Sweat Shop team, and add yourself to the team.
- Lastly, ANYONE can register, regardless of experience, strength, or fitness levels.

Seeing how far you all have come in the past year, Nabil and I are super excited to see you guys crush it this year! Let’s get after it Team Sweat Shop!

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Wednesday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 6 minutes:
10 Toes to Bar
10 Pushups
10 Wall Balls

-Rest 90 Seconds-

As many rounds as possible in 6 minutes:
10 Pullups
10 Single arm KB Squats
10 Box Jumps

-Rest 90 seconds-

As many rounds as possible in 3 minutes:
10 KB Swings
5 Burpees

results

Newer research shows that that some of the most common illnesses such as cardiovascular disease can be caused by inflammation. Furthermore, inflammation from rough bouts of training can put a big damper on your body’s recovery. Besides fish oil, there are other good natural anti-inflammatory foods. Check out this post from Mark’s Daily Apple on some healthy foods that reduce inflammation.

Any discussion of a concept as nebulous, multifaceted, and confusing as inflammation must integrate the question of context. Inflammation itself is highly contextual – as I’ve discussed in previous installments, there are times when inflammation is a good thing and times when inflammation is a negative thing. There are also times when anti-inflammatory actions, drugs, or foods are negatives, even though “anti-inflammatory” has a positive connotation. If you blunt the post-exercise inflammatory response with an anti-inflammatory drug, for example, you also run the risk of blunting the positive effects of that workout.

Mark Sisson’s top 6 Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Wild Fish Fat
Pastured Animal Fat
Red Palm Oil
Cruciferous Vegetables
Berries
Turmeric

Read full description of the foods from the article here.

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Monday’s WOD:

403m Run
————
12 Deadlifts (275#/175#)
30 Wall Balls

9 Deadlifts
25 Wall Balls

6 Deadlifts
20 Wall Balls

3 Deadlifts
15 Wall Balls

*Perform 75 double unders at some point during the workout

results:

Ryan K. going deep.

I’m sure you all at some point have gotten tired of Nabil or I telling you to go down in weight. We don’t do it to make you feel bad, we don’t do it because we are holding you back, we truly want you to grasp the movement of the lift. Often times during strength days, many of you base your success on lifting the heaviest 1-rep possible. Although a 1-rep max is valid measure of strength at that moment, lifting something heavy one time does not necessarily mean you have completely grasped the movement or have attained the strength to repeat it on multiple occasions. This is why we like to incorporate days with reps of 3, 5, and sometimes 7-rep max attempts. Although we admire your eagerness to want to push big weight, we’d rather see you actually grasp and be comfortable with a lift. Here’s another awesome post from CrossFit South Brooklyn on why shooting for the heaviest 1 rep is a little over-hyped.

From the post.

Think of a 1RM not so much as a measure of strength capacity but as an act of strength performance.  Veteran lifters will speak of owning a weight versus hitting a weight.  Owning a weight means that you can get under a bar just about anytime you want and move that weight (assuming a proper warm-up and having not done back-to-back hero WOD’s that week). Hitting a weight is a much less reproducible feat.  It means that on a day where you felt good, were well rested, timed your eating properly, had your weight belt sitting just right, heavenly bodies were aligned properly, and you managed not to mess anything up,  you were able to squeeze out a higher weight than ever before. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a weight that you have only hit once isn’t something that you can just do on command.  It’s an act of strength and will; repeating it doesn’t just happen.  No sprinter expects to hit a PR every time they run a given distance, not in competition and especially not in training.  There is no reason to just assume that every time you get under a barbell you’re going to PR.

We should also consider that not every one’s best event in lifting is the 1RM.  Consider again, sprinting.  All sprinters are fast, that’s why they are sprinters.  However sprinters have different specialties, some are better in a 60m dash, others are better at the quarter mile.  If we took a random group of sprinters and tested their best times at a series of distances, say 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, we would probably find that the rankings would look very similar across the events: the faster runners would tend to do well at all of them.  However, you would also expect to see some shuffling of rankings based upon the individual strengths of the sprinters.  Some are better at accelerating, some run the turns well, some finish well, etc. To bring this back to lifting, imagine a group of powerlifters from the same weight class.  If you tested their 1RM, 3RM, and 5RM squat you would see something very similar:  The strongest lifters would tend to be at the the top of each ranking, however you would also see some move up or down the leader board as the reps changed based upon their individual characteristics. This is relevant to us because the better you are at an event, the 3RM versus the 1RM for instance, the more likely you are able to reproduce your best effort.  We should test our strength at 3RM’s and 5RM’s for precisely the same reason that Track and Field tests more than just the 100m dash as a measure of speed.

Read full post here.
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Wednesday’s WOD:

A.) Front Squat
5-4-3-2-1

*Score is sum of total weight for each set.
*Only allowed 1 attempt per set.
*Failed set results in a “0″.

B.) 7 Minute clock

50 Pullups
*Start with 5 burpees and perform 5 burpees every minute until finished with pullups.

results:

Sad that your fantasy football league is over? Don’t be! Join the next big thing! Fantasy Paleo!

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Legitness of the Week

Back Squat x 3 PR’s
Melia 110

Deadlift x 3 PR’s
Joe S 270
Dana 250
Rob P 345
Nina 175
Garth 125
Amy 195
Carolyn 165
Joel 375
Jin 325
Cassie 235
Kasi 220
Bill 275
Jim D 300
Dustin 255
Jeff 315

- Nabil, Rikus, and Helen represent the Sweat Shop competing at the OC Throwdown!
- Patrick represents the Sweat Shop at the Garage Games at Lalanne Fitness!
- Justin, Charlie, and Matt crank out muscle ups with ease on Friday’s WOD!

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Friday’s WOD:

20 Minute clock
403m run then,

As many rounds as possible of:
6 Ring Dips
6 Pullups
15 Box Jumps
20 Wall Balls

OR

ADV Alternate
3 Muscle Ups
15 Box Jumps
20 Wall Balls

*Must complete (1) 70m Sled Push (135#/90#) and (2) rope climbs before time expires.

results:

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Thursday’s WOD:

“Showcase Showdown”
3 Rounds of:
15 Pullups
15 KB Swings (53#35#)

3 Rounds of:
25 Pushups
25 Double Unders

*Must accumulate 1200m of running at any point during the WOD.

results:

The winners of last year’s Sac-Town Throwdown

The 2012 competition season is upon us! Today we registered 2 teams to represent the Sweat Shop at one of the biggest team comps in the area; The Sactown Throwdown. Although we don’t know the exact logistics and/or rules of putting team rosters together just yet, we are planning on holding a couple qualifier workouts on Sunday January 22nd at 9:30 am. Even if you don’t feel like competing in the actual throwdown, feel free to come workout on that Sunday as the workouts will be fun, challenging, and will test in large your overall CrossFit skills in a competition atmosphere. If you can’t make that day and would still like to compete, e-mail Nabil or I to see if we can run the workout on a different day.

The qualifying workouts are:

1) 750m Row

2) 10 minutes to reach heaviest 1 Rep Squat Clean to Overhead

3.) 3 Rounds of:
15 Wall Balls
15 Pullups
30 Double Unders

then, 15 Front Squats (185#/125#)
403m Run

The top 2 males and top 2 females will compete in the Open division. The next 2 male and female runner ups will be put on the Novice Team.

Check out the Sac-Town Throwdown blog for more details on the event.

Let’s get after it team Sweat Shop!

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Legitness of the Week

Push Press x 3 PR’s
Boie 165

Deadlift x 1 PR’s
Nabil 410
Eric 305
Dana 260 (Sweat Shop Record)

Back Squat x 1 PR’S
Nabil 375
Al 315
Eric 235
Dana 215
Jessica 220 (Sweat Shop Record)

Shoulder Press x 1 PR’s
Nabil 165
Eric 100
Dana 80

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Friday’s WOD:

7 min. AMRAP

5 Pullups
10 Single Arm DB Thruster 45/25
10 Box Jump

-REST 90 sec.

6 min. AMRAP

10 Pistols
15 KB Swings 70/44
REST 90 sec.

5 min. AMRAP

10 Wall Ball
5 Burpees

results:

____________________

Thursday’s WOD:

With a 20 minute clock, complete:

(1) 800m Run, then

As many rounds as possible of:
10 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
10 Toes-to-bar
25 Double Unders

results:

Aaron C, who has only been to the Sweat Shop a few times, nailed his first muscle up… on his very first attempt! Nice Job Aaron! With so many members hitting muscle ups lately, the Sweat Shop is going to have to expand its Muscle Up Factory very soon!

New Year Goals

As 2011 comes to a close and we are ready to embark on a new year, now is great opportunity to get refocused on your fitness goals. Although I am not a huge fan of the idea of New Years Resolutions simply because most people make this their only time to ever make a goal, I like that fact that it is popular enough to where people actually do reflect on the previous year and figure out what they want to do differently in the upcoming year. Whether it’s getting a muscle-up, hitting 20 consecutive double unders, or eating Paleo 3 times a week, start to think of some attainable goals for the new year. You can post them on the goal wall at the Sweat Shop for a reminder. Better yet, post them to comments so you aren’t staring at the wall trying to remember what you wanted your goal to be!

Happy New Year!

*Don’t forget that this Sunday at 9:30am we’ll be doing the CrossFit Total, which is a 1 rep max on back squat, strict press, and deadlift.*

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Legitness of the Week

Back Squat x 1 PR’s
Nina 155

Shoulder Press X 1 PR’s
Charlie 145

Snatch x 1 PR’S
Alex 245 (Sweat Shop Record)

- Jennifer M. PR’s on her deadlift (185#) while vacationing at a CrossFit in Tahoe!

- Ten minutes after the brutal Air Force WOD, Jessica, Luigi, and Admir all hit a muscle up before leaving the shop!

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Friday’s WOD:

5 Thrusters
7 Bar-Facing Burpees
9 Power Cleans

4oom Run

5 Thrusters
7 Bar-Facing Burpees
9 Power Cleans

REST 2 minutes, then REPEAT!

results:

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Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Clean & Jerk Skill Development

B.) “The Rise and Fall of the Danderson Empire”
4 Rounds
403m run
10 Pullups
20 Push Ups
30 Air Squats

results:

Ryan and Mark are ecstatic at the opportunity to put sled pushes on their holiday WOD wish list.

Holiday Schedule
Monday Dec. 26th 8:30am, 9:30am, 10:30am – ONLY

In light of the season of giving, I’ve decided that all Sweat Shoppers deserve something special. This has been a great year filled with some fun and challenging workouts that I’m sure many of you would like to repeat and take another stab at. Or you simply know exactly which ones you NEVER want to do again. As I am currently programming the workouts for next week, I will let you all decide on 3 of your favorites from the past 2011. Check out the blog archives or our Beyond the Whiteboard profile to find your favorites. Post the date or name of your favorites in the comments section. Ho Ho Ho!

In the meantime, check out the 12 Do’s of Christmas from RobbWolf.com:

During the hectic holiday season it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement (or stress) and get thrown off track.  Here are 12 tips to help you stay healthy, sane and the same size this holiday season:

1.) Deck your appetizer buffet with vegetable and fruit trays, shrimp platters, nuts that are still in the shell (provide nutcrackers), and sparkling water with lemons and limes; instead of cheese and crackers, cookies, candy, and eggnog.  Keep you and your loved ones “Merry and Light”!

2.) Plan your attack.  Decide which seasonal treats are worth the indulgence and which ones you can pass up.  Go in with a plan to beat the buffet!

3.) Host a Paleo holiday gathering.  If your friends and family are on board; this one will be EASY!  Assign each guest a “course” – appetizer, entree, side, salad, dessert, drink, etc., to bring to the party. And if you aren’t fortunate enough to have ‘paleo posse’; supply your guests with recipes and/or directions telling them exactly what to bring!

4.) Start a new holiday tradition.  Instead of the yearly “cookie swap” try a Paleo “soup swap”.  Everyone brings a specified quantity of a soup and let the trading begin!  Be sure to have the soup makers provide recipes!!

5.) Sweat!  Exercise is important – especially during the holidays!!  Make it a family activity – go for a walk, play in the snow, head to the basketball court.  Whatever you do, don’t take an extended vacation from all activity, unless you’re making a run for next year’s mall Santa…

6.) Turn out the lights.  Sleep!!  During this high-stress season it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re getting adequate shuteye.

7.) Hold it steady – your weight, that is.  The holidays are not the time to start working on those ‘last 10’ or first ‘20’ pounds.  Just focus on not making the situation worse!

8.) Stay hydrated – with WATER!!!  Thirst is often confused with hunger. Dehydration might drive you to the cook jar and also leave you drowsy.  Choose water instead of eggnog, cider, alcohol, cocoa, soda, and juices.  Save room for the good stuff – the food!!

9.) Enjoy your FAVORITE seasonal treats in moderation.  READ: Two dozen cookies is NOT moderation!!

10.) Keep it simple!  The holidays don’t have to be epic and elaborate.  If Christmas dinner is burgers and brats that’s okay!  Think outside the box – it doesn’t have to be traditional to be special!

11.) Say no.  If you’ve been invited to every party in town it’s okay to not go to all of them!  Remember that your sanity counts and if staying home watching “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” sounds like a little piece of heaven in comparison to the party; there’s your sign!  Stay home, relax.  There’s always next year…

12.) Lastly, keep in mind the true meaning of the holidays.  It’s not about food, presents, decorations, and parties.  It’s about being with the people that we care about most.  As long as you remember that; you are sure to maintain your health, sanity, and waist size this season.

Happy Holidays!!!

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Legitness of the Week

Back Squat x 3 PR’s
Jessica 190
Lones 190
Donna C. 190
Dana 185
Josh S.E. 225
Nina 140
Melia 105
Admir 245
Patrick 315
Melaney 150
Kasi 150
Carolyn 135
Jeff 223
CJ 325
Scott J. 183

- CJ get straight A’s almost finishing up Respiratory Therapy School
- Jim D. goes beast mode on “Helen” (8:49)

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Friday’s WOD:

A.) Push Press
3-3-3-3-3

B.) 3 Rounds
10 Power Cleans
10 Pull-ups
10 Burpees

results:

____________________

Thursday’s WOD:

500m Row then,

4 Rounds
18 Pushups
15 Box Jumps
12 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (95#/65#)

results:

You’re not going to see him compete in any CrossFit competitions, he doesn’t have the best back squat, you won’t ever find his name on the whiteboard, and if you’re looking for that 15 pound training barbell, he’s probably already loaded it up with every 10 pound plate in the Sweat Shop. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, its our Sweat Shop Mascot, James R. I decided to interview him because over the past year, he tried every mental approach to CrossFit that he could find and was a bit unhappy with it. However, in recent conversations with him, as well as seeing him at the Sweat Shop with a smile on his face, I asked what has changed.

What problems did you encounter when you first started CrossFitting?

So when I moved to Walnut Creek and got started at the SweatShop, it was a lot different than the Crossfit workouts James and I did at the Cal Poly track back in grad school. James never mentioned that there would be a lot of Olympic Lifting and didn’t realize how complex they were and how much I would absolutely SUCK once I started doing it. Having a swim background, I am used to doing the same thing over and over and getting better at it. But at the Sweat Shop they always mix up the routine and I never felt like I got good at anything, ESPECIALLY the Olympic lifts. But I bit my tongue and thought it would only take me a day or two to get them down, but when it didn’t happen immediately I just kind of decided it wasn’t for me and begged James to tell me the days without lifting. Being the coach he is, he never let me know and after blaming every ache and pain that I had on CrossFit, I eventually decided it wasn’t for me….I think I even blamed breaking up with my girlfriend on CrossFit.

What changed your perspective?

Well after an uncharacteristic 9-page text from James one night, I realized maybe it wasn’t CrossFit that I was mad at. I just had the wrong approach. I was always trying to do prescribed weight, I was too concerned with my results, and seeing other people do lifts and muscle ups with such ease, and focused on all the things I couldn’t do great and just got mad. But I thought about it and I wasn’t ever really trying to do things right, I just cared about how much weight I could put on. Nabil noticed this and asked what was important to me. I told him I just want a workout. After a conversation with him and and a quick anecdote, he made me realize that it’s not all about having lifted the most weight or getting my name boxed for the day. And then BAAM!, like a truck in my face, I realized I just wanted a workout and not worry about my status. We decided that I should leave my name off the board for a while to see how it went. This allowed me to focus on what I was missing out on for so long. The true gem of CrossFit….getting gradually better at everything. Not every workout was my favorite, but I understood it’s purpose in the grand scheme of things. After a couple weeks, I found myself smiling at the gym again. After that, the aches and pains were enjoyable.

How do you now approach CrossFit?

Everyone is legit. It’s such a positive environment. Everyone is supportive and no one cares how much I lift. We’re all there for the same reason, and have the goal to be healthier and get better at whatever the workout is. I enjoy supporting other Sweat Shoppers trying to reach their goals and they make me feel supported as well whether it’s do a back squat right or run as fast as I can on the first 403m of a workout. I’m so glad James and Nabil helped me realize it’s not all about the crap I thought it was.

*Don’t forget to come out and support our two Sweat Shop teams competing in the Reindeer Games tomorrow starting at 9am at CrossFit Adventure in Concord. (9am & 10am classes at the Sweat Shop as usual)  Also, don’t forget to bring 5 bucks for the Sweat Shop Holiday party at Pyramid Alehouse, in Walnut Creek later that night. We will be meeting there at 6:30 pm.*

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Legitness of the Week

Deadlift x 2 PR’s
Jason 160
Julia 110
Rene 220
Tammy 230
Joel 345
Cassie 210
Admir 365
Lisa 160
Bill G-R 240
Kyle 347
Jeff 305
Ryan K 355
Dana T. 245
Boie 360
Aaron 495
Jennifer B. 145
Rikus 425
Jessica 235

Front Squat x 5 PR’s
Matt 195
Melia 95

-Patrick becomes first Sweat Shop member to compete in an Olypmic Lifting competition, and does so the day after a CrossFit Throwdown in Merced!

-Nina, Julia, Josh S.E., Lisa, Kelly, Robert F. brave the freezing cold temps and complete the Walnut Creek Half Marathon last Saturday!

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Friday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

5 Burpees
10 Wall Balls
20 Double Unders

*Complete (1) 403m run and (3) rope climbs before time is up*

results:

____________________

Thursday’s WOD:

7 Squat Cleans (165#/115#)
15 Burpees

7 Squat Cleans
5 Muscle Ups (10 ring dips/10 pullups)

7  Squat Cleans
20 Box Jumps

7 Squat Cleans
2 Rope Climbs

15 Burpees

*Perform 9 Squat cleans if not using Rx’d weight*

results:

Big ups to Sean on getting his first muscle-up after only 2 previous attempts!
_______________________

Monday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Air Squats

*Every 2 minutes perform 3 Deadlifts (245#/175#) starting at 0:00*

results:

Jeff always seems to avoid hitting a wall in his training by having a good perspective of how to reach his goals.

Here’s a great post by CrossFit South Booklyn that hits on what most all CrossFitters have to deal with at some point during training; “The Sophomore Slump”.

From the post:

It’s inevitable. At some time during this great journey that is Crossfit, things are going to get tough.  Your strength numbers stop shooting up, and your metcon times stop plummeting down.  At a certain point what Mark Rippetoe calls the “Beginner Effect” wears off, and you are now faced with the daunting prospect that each gain, each skill mastered, and each second shaved will be done so at the cost of a considerable investment of time, focus, and will.

Often, concurrent with this realization, you will look around and think “why isn’t this happening to anyone else!”  The guy you share a squat rack with has added 40 pounds to his squat this exposure, while you’ve risked an aneurysm to add 15!  The girl you did foundations with just hit 100 consecutive double unders, and you approach the jump rope like its an anaconda looking to wrap you up and eat you!  You thought you were great at this stuff, and all of a sudden it feels like you barely deserve to wear the ol’ skull and crossbones and call yourself a CFSBKer.

For many, this phenomenon occurs somewhere between 6 and 18 months into an athlete’s development, although it can certainly happen sooner or later, depending on your previous training history.

Congratulations!  You are now a Crossfit Sophopmore, and experiencing your first Sophomore Slump!  At this time it may be meritorious to examine the roots of the word Sophomore.  Although commonly used to refer to the second year of high school or college instruction, it derives its name from the greek sophisma, which means “acquired skill, clever device, method” which was further derived from sophos, meaning “wise or skilled.”  Previously you made gains randomly, almost accidentally, and every lift or metcon was a PR.  Now, as a Sophomore, you must practice sophisma and train methodically and with greater perspective to ensure continued success.

Read full post here.

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Legitness of the Week

- Admir does 2 consecutive 70m Dog Sled pushes to end the brutal “B-K Broiler” workout!
-About to attempt a near personal record back squat, Nabil jets out of the Sweat Shop to make it on time to the 5:30 showing of “The Muppets”!

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Friday’s WOD:

4 Rounds

10 Burpees
15 Overhead Squats 115#/85#
20 Box Jumps
200m Farmer Carry

results:

Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Work up to heavy 1 Rep Thruster

B.)
“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pullups

results:

In lifts like snatches, every little movement must be dialed in to get a successful rep. Here’s a video of Nabil showing us that with legit form,  flipping 125% of your bodyweight from the ground to overhead is a piece of cake.

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Monday’s WOD:

“Barbara”

5 Rounds
20 Pullups
30 Pushups
40 Situps
50 Air Squats

*Rest 3 minutes between rounds*

results:

Our friends at CrossFit Adventure will be hosting an event, “The Reindeer Games”, on Saturday December 17th. This is sure to be a fun and challenging team event for all Sweat Shoppers. Check the details above if you are interested in participating as we are trying to put at least one team together. The only hints to the workouts are double unders and rope climbs, however, Nabil and I can’t help but guess that there will be a “Reindeer-esque” component to them (i.e. pushing or carrying an old, chubby, white bearded man or simply just bumper plates). Luckily, we just received our “custom-made” prowler-dog sleds made by our old buddy Kenny from CrossFit Solano to practice on! E-mail Nabil or I if you are interested in getting on a team.

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Legitness of the Week

Back Squat x 1 PR’s
Melaney 155

Deadlift x 2 PR’s
Josh S.E. 321
Donna C. 225
Lones 255
Rob K. 275
Nina 170
Melia 150
Jessica 230
Patrick 449
Jason T. 382
Rene 215
Kyle 323
Katie 230

- Admir gets his first muscle up!
- Danny’s brother, Ryan, gets his first muscle up after only 3 sessions at the Sweat Shop!
- Our very own Sweat Shop firefighter, Kyle, does a mobility WOD while on the job!

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Friday’s WOD:

5 Sets

As many rounds as possible in 3 minutes of:
6 Ground to Overhead
8 Pushups
10 Box Jumps

*Rest 1 minute between sets

results:

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Thursday’s WOD:

Alternating Tabata

Thrusters (75#/55#)
Pullups
————–
Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Burpees

*20 Seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest*

results: